Report from BHW Nepal Partnership Facilitator Following Visit 17th-20th November

Key person:  Niranjan Adhikary 

Our last visit to Nepal was four years ago and in between COVID has been and not quite gone. It is not easy to get written reports from Niranjan, so it was important to go. We have done a lot of projects with him as you can see below and several of them were one-offs, so it is not that easy to get reports and, in some cases, the outcomes are not closely monitored.

This report will cover all aspects of our engagement in the past and comes from talking with Niranjan and Nigel and Nancy, he and Sonu’s very impressive children. 

Niranjan continues to be an energetic entrepreneur with many things going on in his mind. When you talk to him, he is bubbling with energy, and it is very difficult to keep him on subject. Trying to take notes while he is talking is a mission! 

COVID obviously created many difficulties for him and the ministry. He could not travel as before but he did a doctorate online from an American University and wrote a book! 

Recent Events

The Clinic (NEP02b)

The clinic shifted from Nawal Parasi as reported in a previous report. The local government did not want it to be close to the chicken farm because of bird flu. It is still operating effectively and helping the community. It is in the hilly area called Dadgaun and Bed Dahal is the clinical supervisor. He is a Christian and gets many opportunities to talk about Christ. Two nurses and a cleaner are also employed, and they are able to give good treatment and have drugs on hand when required. It is a good clinic, not like the government ones where the staff don’t attend and there are no drugs available.  

Chicken Farm (NEP02c)

The chicken farm is still operating effectively and creating profit. The profit goes into the Resource Centres to be loaned to people all over the country for their small businesses. They have switched away from eggs to broilers and have 3,000 birds. It is a profitable business. Now the price of chicken meat is high, around NRU190/kg (US$1.45). They make a profit of about NRU90 / bird (US$0.70). That is about US$2,100 per batch. This assists with topping up the Resource Centre and supports seven families who work on the project. They also sell the manure which is worth a lot. 

The farming cooperative in the area continues to be effective for the farmers as well and is a real blessing to the community and the local church. They have started another cooperative in the Pokhara area too. 

As well as the chicken farm they have started a small building company. They only do small buildings at present, but they have plenty of work. The area is growing quickly and there is a great opportunity. They have a licensed constructor who oversees the work which is necessary as this is now classed as urban, so they need to get building permits and do it properly. There are about 20 people in the company. Also, there is an offshoot of this company now working in Kathmandu.  

Resource Centre (NEP02d)

The Resource Centre (providing loans) continues to operate well. It has been under some pressure because of COVID and the pressure it placed on businesses, however, nearly all the loans are being repaid, some are delayed but not defaulted on. It continues to be a real benefit to people and there is always a waiting list. 

There are several new projects on the table that would put pressure on this loan programme and one possibility is to put more funds into this so these new ones can be funded from the Resource Centre. 

While we were with Niranjan and Sonu, one of the long-term beneficiaries of the Resource Centre came in to tell his story. It gives good insight into the issues that people face when trying to run a business. We met Shankar on our last visit, and he told us of the successful farm he had and the butchery he had opened which were going really well. Before COVID he was running 300 broilers, 60 pigs and three cows, a large vegetable garden and a modern butchery. The pigs were a great business, and he once made a sale of 3 lakhs rupees (US$2,300) in one sale. 

The business was growing but unfortunately several things happened that destroyed it, and he is now struggling to recover:
- COVID stopped the butchery as there were no customers. 

- His land was on the edge of the city and the local government changed the zoning, so he was not allowed to rear pigs. He sold the pigs and got ducks, but the neighbours complained about the noise, so he had to stop that too. 

- The biggest issue was that he and another man signed a personal guarantee for the loan of a friend. The friend disappeared and left them to pay the loan after two years. This has completely ruined him. He has paid off 5 lakhs (US$3,500) and has 1 lakh (US$770) still to pay. He has visited the family of the man, but they won’t respond to the issue and say it is not their problem. The man was supposed to go to the UAE for work but never went and lives somewhere in the city and has abandoned his family. 

Now he has a small garden, three cows, has ordered 300-day-old chicks and hopes to start again. He has had several loans from the Resource Centre but his ability to repay on time has been compromised. He has 70,000 (US$540) left to repay before he can get another loan. When he can borrow again, he wants to buy some more cows and register as a cow farmer and also get some goats. Each cow can produce an income of 50 - 60,000 rupees per month so it is a good way to go. 

Cafes (NEP04)

Funds have been provided for two cafés. One is operating well and employs six people, some part-time. Café culture has well and truly arrived in Kathmandu, there are cafes everywhere. The second one, the Reading Café has not reopened since COVID. However, they still have all the equipment and intend to open soon, probably after winter. They have trained many baristas who have employment in other cafés. 

Business Incubation (NEP05) 

We were concerned about this project as we could not get answers from Niranjan about what was happening. To be fair, he was the wrong person to ask. We didn’t realise that this was really a project that was being run by his children, Nigel and Nancy, and they were able to explain it to us. To be fair, it has not worked out the way they originally envisaged. 

It was started during COVID, and it operated by Zoom which was not ideal. Because of COVID they were able to get the students, but they were not able to get to the businesses who were to be the ones funding the start-ups. And the businesses that started didn’t do well because of COVID and lack of capital. 

They were partnering with a group, ACE Institute, to deliver the training and that is continuing. They are in the fourth cohort of students and the programme is now picking up as businesses get back into profit. There is an expectation from the government that businesses must contribute to social enterprises and so there are funds available if the businesses are making profit. 

The team has stepped away from the training and has left it to ACE Institute but remain engaged informally as they know the people running it. 

Emerging out of the incubation programme is an enterprise that the family has started called TRY SEWA. This will soon be renamed COMPLETE SUBIDA. The motto is “The Service All You Need” and it is a networking platform. It employs five people, and they advertise to companies to become service providers for whatever they need. They offer monthly service packages or one-off services. They have connections with around 50 contractors and when a job comes up, they connect the contractor to the job. They ensure quality control and provide a 6-month service guarantee. 

The main areas of service are electrical installations, especially for electric vehicles, plumbing, electrical, painting, air-conditioners, appliances, CCTV monitoring, computers, backup, aluminium windows and doors, packing and moving, metal work and event management. The project is growing month-to-month and is breaking even at present. Both Nigel and Nancy are getting some income from it as consultants but will get more as it grows. 

They have commenced another group called Maverick-cubation which will start to operate sometime soon alongside the Resource Centre. They are looking at a cow fattening project growing Napier Grass. This is a fast-growing Asian grass that will be a real boost to cattle rearing.

His Flock and Training 

The network of churches Niranjan leads, His Flock, has grown. He doesn’t know how many groups there are but there are 42 training places around Nepal, and he is in the process of establishing two outreach centres in each of the seven states of Nepal that will have a focus on evangelism and training. He has a team of people who go out to do the training and he goes out as well. He was supposed to be out while we were there but stayed back for us. He provides resources for the trainers so they can go, and he coordinates the teams. He also runs mobile training in distant places as it is very difficult for some people to travel. He was recently involved in training 30 people where they had to walk two days each way for a week’s training. A team will go there for one week per month for a whole year to complete the training.  

Family 

Nigel and Nancy 

Nigel is 26 and has graduated with a business management degree. Nancy is 19 and is in the last year of a marketing degree. They are vibrant young people with a strong faith and a commitment of staying in Nepal to help with the development of the people. We spent a lot of time with them and some of their friends as they shared their vision. 

They and their friends have given us two new opportunities to consider. They have the energy and entrepreneur spirit of their father! 

Ideas for the Future

They want to commence the Maverick-cubation project with Napier Grass 

They have presented a project to commence a clothing business 

They have given me another project to start a counselling / retreat centre 

Current Issues and Challenges

The local economy is in a bad way and people are struggling economically 

There is a lot of need on the ground 

There are a lot of mental health issues faced by a wide range of people

Prayer and Praise Points

1) That despite COVID and the financial situation, most of the projects are flourishing.
2) That the discipleship and training continues and is producing fruit.
3) That Nigel and Nancy are stepping into ministry roles.
4) That they are all still dreaming about new opportunities.
5) That they have such a wide network of good people.

Comments

There are several good, new opportunities developing here we should be alert to. The younger people are visionaries but a little naïve. 

There is no ongoing budget being sent here currently but there will be some new projects come to us.