Ambika is 28 years old and comes from Pyuthan, a region in the west of Nepal. There she also received training as a stove builder in 2017. She is married and has two children, a son and a daughter. She and her husband have a small farm. They have a water buffalo cow and several goats. Corn and various vegetables as well as buckwheat are grown in the fields. They can make ends meet and have enough to eat, but cash is always scarce. So the husband decided to go to India and try his luck there as a day laborer and collect some income. Of course, that meant being a long way from home and family. The work is hard and poorly paid. Ambika together with her children and mother-in-law had to do all the work on the farm.

Ambika is a skilled stove builder and also very hardworking. She has already set up more than 1500 stoves. She was soon able to earn more wages than her husband. When she found out about the additional training to become a “maintenance expert” (chimney sweep), she was immediately ready to take part. In this way, she could construct an additional financial pillar in the vicinity of her place of residence. After some discussion, she convinced her husband to return back home and work as a handyman for her. As a well-rehearsed team, the two have perfected their processes and on good days they can build three stoves. The income generated in this way is sufficient to pay for the children's schooling and allows them a satisfactory life. The husband was able to buy a small motorbike and drives his wife to her stove construction jobs, which saves considerable time.

A very self-confident Ambika is currently in the process of convincing other women stove makers to bring their husbands back from abroad to join them in making stoves.

Exemplary! Women's power in Nepal.