"Everything I own, it's because of the support I received from Sana Kisan."

Damber Prasad Silwal says he has been able to live a comfortable life after moving to Gajuri 25 years ago due to SKBBL's support..

2019 © Astara van der Jagt

When Damber Prasad Silwal came to Gajuri 25 years ago, he came with nothing but Nrs. 7,000. With the money he brought, he hoped to get a loan and start a new life, but he could find no one that would entrust it to him. That cycle persisted until he met the Chairman of the Gajuri Sana Kisan Bikas Bank Ltd. (SKBBL) branch, who connected him with the Small Farmers Agriculture Cooperative Ltd. (SFACL), who immediately gave him a loan of Nrs. 50,000. 

“The Cooperative should have been afraid about how I would be able to pay them back, as I was, but they trusted me despite not having any income at all,” Silwal said with tears in his eyes. With the loan, he bought three ropanis of land, one ropani being 508.72 square metres. Soon, he had started two businesses, one in vegetable farming and one in animal farming. Earning up to Nrs. 100,000 yearly for 15 consecutive years, he was able to hire labour, maintain his property, and save money too, something that he never did before. 

Six years ago, however, he sold most of the land he bought as old age and medical conditions disabled him from maintaining it. With that money and personal savings, he has been able to pay off his medical bills and sustain the modest, but fruitful life he shares with his wife. The three goats that graze in the Silwals’ backyard provide their daily dairy intake.“It is only possible to use this money like a pension because it’s just the two of us. Our son died 30 years ago,” Silwal said. Reminiscing of what he had when he first arrived in Gajuri, though, Silwal said he has nothing to be afraid of so long as SKBBL is there. He lives a life where he asks for nothing and a property worth Nrs. four million.

“Everything I have, everything I own - it’s because of the support I received from Sana Kisan.”