Saduram Bista

Saduram was born in 1956. He is a married Hindu and has six children (two sons and four daughters one of whom is married). The family lives in Salambutar, where the SKM Hospital is located.

Saduram was a day worker on various building sites in the village. He helped wherever he could as neighbour or relative and was seldom paid for his work. He had great difficulty paying the school fees for his children. He has been a stove manufacturer since 2006. Like all other stove manufacturers he receives 300 Rs for each stove he completes. That is an important, regular income which is sufficient to satisfy the meagre needs of his family.

Saduram is very experienced and has already built between 500 and 600 stoves. He works mostly in and around Dhading, ca. 2-3 hours from Kathmandu. The advantages of smokefree stoves are obvious to him and he can easily instruct and motivate the locals.

Asked if he has any negative experiences from stove manufacture, he told of one case where the house where a house wehre a stove was to be installed nearly collapsed when the hole was made for the chimney. The owners and many helpers worked for the entire day to stabilize the building. The catastrophe was avoided and the stove installed.

Saduram dreams of better work for example in an office - he looks at his hands as he says this - but he has no school education and is greatful for the opportunities his work as stove manufacturer offer.