The study team from the Small Earth Nepal (SEN) comprising of Mr. Arun Prasad Bhattarai, and Mr. Niranjan Bista, visited the project site from December 28, 2018, to January 3, 2019. The objective of the field visit was to inform and explain the project, its objectives, and interventions along with the expected outcome with the local farmers, the community members, the local government, and the stakeholders in concern.
The kick-off meeting was successfully held in Purena Community, ward no. 2 of Buddhabhumi Municipality on December 31, 2018. The team highlighted the role of the community in project activities and benefits to the community from the project interventions. The key local stakeholders who participated in the program were farmers, members of women’s groups, local clubs, and representatives of ward and municipality and were twenty-eight in number. A discussion was held to carry out the project activities through the input from local farmers and the suggestions from the stakeholders. The following decisions were made as an outcome of the discussion:
1.Thirty farmers were chosen to implement project interventions in the project site.
2. An appropriate site for deep boring was selected based on the recommendation of the community.
Information sharing with local government
The project team visited the Buddhabhumi Municipality office to meet the Mayor, Mr. Keshav Kumar Shrestha. They briefly explained the objective of the project, project activities, expected outcome, project duration, and funding source. The Mayor was excited about the project and stressed on getting expected results within the allocated time frame. The Mayor said, “He is positive towards the benefit of local communities and is looking forward to seeing the project interventions in action”.
The team met Mr. Bheshraj Sharma, the Chairman of the ward no. 2. They talked about project details in short. The Chairman showed keen interest in project activities and is committed to supporting fully the team throughout the project period.
In addition to this, the team met Mr. Himal B.K., the Social Development Officer of the Buddhabhumi Municipality to share the project information. He is happy to learn about project activities. He is committed to coordinate with the team in carrying out the administrative process to implement the project and to monitor the project activities.
