Kathmandu Workshop


NLT operates income generation projects near Kathmandu that provide employment for various disadvantaged groups. Many fair-trade products are manufactured and are exported as well as sold locally. Profits go to supporting NLT's social welfare initiatives, as well as to the work based at Lalgadh.

  • Himalayan Leather Handicrafts manufactures high-quality leather products (bags, wallets, etc.). It employs people affected by leprosy, from families affected by leprosy or who have other disabilities.
  • Himalayan Batiks provides employment for people marginalised through disability and/or poverty. A range of about 300 batiks is produced, depicting facets of Nepali life, floral themes and animals, etc.
  • Lydia Industry is a recent project providing training to and employing disadvantaged women. A range of fabric products and greetings cards is produced.
  • NLT's Himalayan Handicrafts Shop in Kathmandu provides a retail outlet in Nepal for these products, and for products of other fair-trade organisations.
  • Lydia Trading (Pvt) Ltd, the export arm of NLT in Nepal, exports the fair-trade products of NLT's own industries and other organisations. Our main buyers are from the USA, UK and Japan. Nepal Leprosy Trust Services Ltd, registered in the UK, provides a vehicle for marketing and selling the goods. All its profits are donated back to NLT for social welfare projects.

NLT operates several socio-economic support projects to help individuals and families. These offer training, housing and other assistance to our producers and people who are destitute.

  • Lydia Children's Fund (click here) is a monthly sponsorship scheme to enable children from disadvantaged families to remain with their families and receive an education.
  • A Financial Assistance Scheme provides practical help to disadvantaged women, senior citizens, people affected by leprosy and others unable to provide for themselves.
  • Small-scale income generation and training: NLT responds to the specific needs of individuals on the verge of becoming destitute, by helping them get established with a trade such as animal husbandry or tailoring. A bee-keeping project trains and equips people to sell honey, wax and bee colonies in the local bazaar. Women are being taught felt-making skills to enable them to have a small income from the products they learn to make.

For more information or to donate to the work of NLT - contact us or visit the support us page