Mira, now, is a successful business woman who once had difficulty to manage two ends meal for the family. She is from Chaughoda VDC in Nuwakot Distict where she used to grow some crops and vegetable in her very limited area of land as the source of her family living. She was also using her skill on tailoring (sewing cloths) as off farm source of income. The tailoring skill she had acquired from the training organized by Police Women Association some eight years back. "I can not compare my condition then and now", she says looking back four short years. Though my family was small in size, I did not have enough money to buy even food and other daily requirements of the family. I was not even able to buy necessary stationery and school dresses to my only son, but now the situation is far different" she recalls.

Though she was at this measurable stage of her life but still had a lot of energy and potentiality to make the life a successful if have an opportunity. Her hidden potentiality turned into reality when she was identified as a participant and provided entrepreneurship training by a UNDP funded Micro-enterprise Development Programme (MEDEP) which aimed at enabling ?low income families? to improve their income opportunities by starting their own micro enterprises. Since she already had some tailoring skill, the training clicked her to translate the existing tailoring skill into an enterprise. After the training she has chosen ladies garments and particularly the Dhaka bag and purse making as the enterprise of her match.

Once she was determined to undertake the enterprise, she immediately had to make some investment for the basic equipment and raw materials required for her enterprise but she was not financially capable of making that without outside support. As MEDEP works in partnership with microfinance institutions aiming at creating access of rural poor to micro-finance and developing into entrepreneurs, Mira has also been one to get credit support to expand her enterprise. She got credit of amount Rs. 10,000 to start up her new enterprise (Ladie garment and Dhaka bag making). She bought new sewing machines and other accessories utilizing the credit received from Agriculture Development Bank expanded the enterprise. After the expansion of her enterprise, the quantity of production went up and she had to find bigger market for her production ? Dhaka bags and ladies garments. The growing demand for her Dhaka bags in Kathmandu market attracted her and ultimately she moved to Kathmandu for the business with high hope. "I moved to Kathmandu thinking that I can do better business than staying back in the village and it happened to be true. Now I have no problem of market for my products and my earning is also manifolds higher than I used to earn when I was back in the village", she said.

According to her, Mira is earning Rs. 15,000 to 20,000 a month from her business. She has been able to support college fees and other necessary cost of education for her only son. Now she can save some amount from her monthly income meeting all the daily requirements of the family.

Mira has also trained eight other poor women and employed in her own enterprise. They work fulltime in making Dhaka bags and ladies garments and Mira is looking after marketing and overall day to day management of the enterprise. Now she is happily running her business and planning to expand it, create employment to more poor and needy women. "I would have been stitching some torn cloths and making some new for children of village elites, had I not been given entrepreneurship (how to do business) training by MEDEP. The training and support to get credit has really empowered me and as a result now I am here happily " she proudly said.

There are thousands of poor people like Mira having enormous entrepreneurial potentialities. A little outside input such as training, access to credit, market information can translate the hidden potentialities into reality that is what Mira's case correctly reflects.