MICROFINANCE PROGRAM
Department of Community Programs (DCP) has been running a Microfinance program since 2008 with an objective of increasing financial accessibility through skill based training and creating awareness regarding common female and reproductive health problems and diseases. DCP is currently running the program in 9 different outreach centers: Bahunepati, Dapcha, Baluwa, Kattike Deurali, Salambu, Manekharka, Chattredeurali Dhading, Thangsing and Godamchaur. There are a total of 99 groups, of which 46 groups had already completed their loan cycle. In total, around 1000 women have been enrolled into the program till date. The hospital believes to improve the living standard; access to credit should be combined with health awareness. Therefore, besides accessing credit the women were offered various awareness sessions on different health issues such as family planning, safe motherhood, HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections and so on. The staff in the outreach centers conducts health education sessions monthly when the women visits outreach centers at the time of their monthly saving meeting. In some cases, if women could not come to the center, the staffs themselves visit the women’s home for health education. Along with this, the staff of the women's health program also visits these centers to provide health education.

Besides this access to credit and health education trainings, women are given different kinds of skilled based trainings like veterinary trainings, candle-making training, mushroom farming and tailoring. DCP has been working in close collaboration with the District Agriculture Office and the District Veterinary Office for conducting different agriculture and veterinary trainings. The success of the tailoring training in Dapcha outreach centre will be extended to other outreach centres soon.

The long term vision of the microfinance is to strengthen the economic status of the women in the rural community that entails to access quality health care services. The immediate output will be to increase economic status through different income generating activities. This results of the program is to increase decision making power of women’s for seeking health care to themselves and to their children, for education of the children, involvement in advocacy to seek rights from the local bodies and at national level. The achievement of the microfinance program has been very impressive. Though, it has just been 10 years, it has improved the status of many women in the community. This has not only helped to improve the status of women, but also has helped to improve the status of family and the community as a whole. There is no doubt that the program is running smoothly, but still many improvements seem to be needed. The lessons learned from the past will definitely help to make the future program more effective and efficient.