TGIFW Foundation funds mushroom farm

The first mushrooms have been harvested. A milestone in our first circular capital project.

Dear TGIFW Family

We have welcomed 2021 with a hope to create more impacts through our company. Thank you to each one of you, we were able to touch lives during the pandemic. All we are stronger together and it was more evident during our call for help during the pandemic. We succeeded in two crowdfunding for our producers in Nepal, monthly rations for the families and monthly ration for the children home and a financial assistance to keep running the kindergarten. Together we did it. Our impact journey continues and our fair fashion commitment as well. Since last year we have been in contact with Pabitra Majhi, a lady from Southern Nepal who is giving elderly classes to the people in her community. We talked about doing a project together which did not materialise due to COVID restrictions. But we were always in contact to do something together. So, we asked her about the participants in her classes and what they are planning to do after they can read and write. She shared her vision to make them economically stronger by giving them entrepreneurship classes. We liked the vision and wanted to do more if the participants wanted to start something. We wanted to provide the seed capital for the entrepreneurial journey. As at the end of the day, financial assistance is the missing piece of the puzzle when you start your business. But we told her it won’t be like a normal financial assistance, but more of a circular capital. We had this idea of circular capital, where the initial capital will be collected and circulated to help a new project. In this way, they are accountable not to us but more the next project they are going to support. We were excited and so was Pabitra. In next few days, she proposed of doing mushroom farming with eight women from her class. Mushroom cultivation is a women friendly profession. It is one agricultural activity in which rural women can play a pivotal role without sacrificing their household responsibilities. Mushroom cultivation is simple, low cost, and suitable for rural areas, is less labour intensive and can provide employment. Mushroom cultivation will improve the socio-economic condition of farmers, families and solve employment problems of illiterate women for economic empowerment. In this context, an attempt has been made to introduce the mushroom production as an income raising and employment generating activity.

We transferred her the money once we got the full proposal and the business plan. But like everywhere around the world, things got to a slow start and we had delays due to pandemic.  But things were taking shape and we got pictures of the house they were building for the mushroom production. And last month we got the news of the first batch of mushroom and they the first sales they did. We can express how happy we are to be able to make it happen. Our journey of TGIFW started with creating impacts for the women working at our scarves production and now we are here with our mushroom farming. We have been able to learn lot from the women of Nepal and their resilience at times when it is the hardest.

Thank your form making TGIFW more than a fashion brand. Thank you for being part of this journey we started 6 years ago. Be part of the change. Be part of the community. And most importantly, just be you, as the journey of fair fashion or the social impact, all starts with you and your action to make a difference.

Tashi Lama for TGIFW