Kapan Gyanmala Community Homestay - An urban experience on the foothills of a National Park

Chunnu chettri is a 60-year-old woman with two sons and one daughter. She is an independent woman who was also a member of a woman’s club and worked for the government of Nepal. After retiring   from the job she opened the homestay which helped her gain a lot of new experiences. She also started feeling more confident in herself as she got to interact with the guests. She was able to provide better education opportunities for her son as the homestay made her financially stable. Chunnu is more than welcome to serve her guests.

Laxmi khadka has a beauty salon but the main income came from her husband who works as a businessman. The beauty salon did not provide sufficient income for her joint family, thus she started the homestay which helped her son study in reputed schools and colleges in Kathmandu. With laxmi’s income coming from the parlor and from her husband’s income they were able to build a new house. Laxmi and her family realized that opening the homestay not only made them financially stable but also helped them develop confidence and know themselves better.

Man Maya Gurung is an unmarried 60-year-old woman who worked in Singha Durbar before starting the homestay. She has been an independent woman all her life. Now that she has retired from her job she needed a new way to generate more income. That’s when she opened her own homestay. As a retired woman, Man Maya gets the chance to be more at home and she can easily divide her spare time between the guests and her activities. The smile on her face when the guests come is remarkable.

Naina has been running the homestay for 6 years and is an experienced host. Naina Sapkota has one daughter and son who are studying in bachelors and another son studying in grade 10. Her husband is a consultant in a manpower company. Her whole experience with running the homestay has been great. She is also being able to contribute to her children’s education. The community homestay has brought her a social circle of people whom she can rely on.

Previously Pampha was the owner of a small snack shop. Although the shop is still open the main income comes from the homestay run by her. Her children are employed and are strong pillars in Pamphas life. She recalls, with the help of extra income generated from homestay and her children’s help she was able to travel to Australia to visit her children after a long time . Since her children are working abroad,  with like minded women in the community, the community has been a big support for her. 

In the past Sabriti was a social worker who worked to uplift the status of women by providing them with stitching and beauty parlor training. With her busy lifestyle she was unable to spend quality time with her son. Therefore, she decided to join the community homestay. She is the newest member of the community. Now, she is able to provide better education to her son and also spend more time with him. 

Sarada is a social worker. She has always been there to help people in need. She wanted to make the other women in her community independent and stronger. So, she came up with  the idea of Community Homestay which would benefit them economically and on the other hand would develop confidence and self esteem. Some of her friends from the same community helped her for this. But things weren’t that easy for her. She was accused for spoiling the family relation by the men. Many also tried to pull her down accusing that she was spoiling other women in the community too. Things got better when they started receiving guests and the community saw the impacts. People have started respecting her work and dedication. This has inspired Sarada more to work on this field and support more number of women.

Shusila Bhattarai was just a housewife whose family depended on her husband’s income. After her husband passed away Shusila had to do something for her two sons and daughter. So to support her family she joined the community and opened a homestay which is run by her and her eldest son who is handicapped. Shusila is hardworking and loved by all. The income generated has allowed her to pay for her eldest sons’ treatment and education. She now has doubled her income and is a strong independent woman.

Even before the homestay program Ang Maya Sherpa occasionally had tourists staying over at her house. Her husband is a reputed social worker who works with tourists for the betterment of the society. With all the funds collected by her husband and Ang’s income they are able to serve the society better by constructing schools and roads in rural areas. Now, Ang has gained a lot of confidence and has been an active member in her husbands’ social work as well.