Deaf Women Excel in Handicraft Jewelry Making

Kathmandu. Meena Nepal of Palpa and Bhima Basnyal of Manigram, Butwal cannot hear or speak. However, they are skilled in handicrafts, becoming exemplary by making attractive jewelry.

At a workshop in Satdobato, Lalitpur, both of them are not only self-reliant using their skills but are also setting an example for others.

In the workshop, these two women give new shapes to brass metals to create attractive jewelry. They have been in this profession after undergoing three months of training.

After the rescue of women and children trafficked in India in 2013, a small initiative called 'Sanopaila' started providing jewelry-making training with the objective of making them self-reliant. By 2016, it was established as a commercial company 'Kansya Jewellery', where the workers are their own bosses.

The journey of 'Kansya Jewellery' did not start with any commercial objective. The specialty of Kansya Jewellery is that the artists working here are not just workers, they are also shareholders of the company. They make jewelry themselves, take it to the market to sell, and use the income earned for their livelihood as well as for the expansion of the organization.

'Our main objective is to empower women like them. The more sisters join here, the stronger this journey becomes,' said Deepak Bahadur Shrestha, CEO of Kansya Jewellery.

The artists working here cannot speak or hear. They communicate through hand gestures (sign language). The organization has arranged for an interpreter to take the jewelry made here to the market and facilitate with customers. Ramita Budha is assisting them with sign language work.

Meena and Bhima are creating artworks ranging from small earrings to necklaces. In 2024, the organization started the School of Women Entrepreneurship. Eleven women, including victims of domestic violence and single women from all over Nepal, were brought to Kathmandu and given three months of training in making handmade jewelry, including accommodation. Some of these women are now working at Kansya Jewellery, while some have returned to their villages and started their own enterprises.

Jewelry produced at Kansya Jewellery is sold by setting up stalls at Lobi Mall and various fairs every Saturday. The brass, Panchdhatu, and custom-made gold and silver jewelry displayed at these stalls not only attract customers but, more than that, the story of struggle behind the jewelry attracts people.

Kanchan Jha, founder of Sanopaila, said that there are plans to open a branch of Kansya Jewellery in Birgunj soon. 'We are setting up both a workshop and an outlet,' Jha said, 'We will also study the potential of products made from bamboo and handmade items and work on them.'