Naisten Pankki, Part 1 – Education & Opportunities
We will never forget the day when we were able to visit a village in Nepal for the first time, which is one of the target villages of our title project and where the charity sum collected by Kaiko together with its customers is directed. 
When we arrived in the village of Ghuseli, a dozen women welcomed us with smiles and hugs. We got to know the board of the Naisten Bank cooperative as well as the members of the cooperative who receive training and financial support through the cooperative. We had the opportunity to hear and see inspiring and touching examples of the numerous ways in which the project operated by Naisten Bank supports local women. 
Naisten Bank's job is to provide practical training and skills that will help women in future business operations or expanding income streams. Women's Bank also organizes training on women's rights in Nepal, because it is of the utmost importance that women know their rights in matters related to property rights, custody, domestic violence, etc., so that they know how to stand up for themselves. 
The second and one of the biggest tasks of the cooperative is to provide financial support. Naisten Pankki offers unsecured, low-interest loans with a flexible repayment schedule. The purpose of the loans is to encourage women to become entrepreneurs - to give opportunities, not handouts. Many of the women we met had taken out a loan themselves and were empowered to tell how the independence made possible by their own livelihood has revolutionized their lives. 
Communicating Ghusel's news to our team in Vallila - and to you there on the other side of the screens - has been one of the most important tasks of the last few months, and the fact that our mission has a face makes us continue our work on the Finnish side with even greater joy and drive. "Fashion with a Mission" is the ultimate reason for our existence.
