In 2015, NAUSENI's founders, Dr. Wilatluk and Dr. Iman Gurung were in Kathmandu with their family when the Earthquake struck Nepal. Like many other survivors, they got involved in the relief and recovery efforts in the days that followed. Having raised fund and sent relief materials to Gorkha in close collaboration with local NGOs in Nepal, the couple later returned to visit the earthquake-affected areas, and quickly learnt that going forward, many survivors, particularly women, didn’t expect any hand-outs, and wished to rebuild their lives and homes with their “own two hands”.

Taking the phrase “with our own two hands” quite literally, Wilatluk and Iman started NAUSENI WOMEN INITIATIVE with the mission to empower women by providing skill development and adding values to their traditional crafts. The INITIATIVE invited a leading British designer and tutor with the expertise in wool felting and provided free week-long wool felt and needle felting training for fifty Nepali women in Kathmandu in September 2016.

After two years of incubation period in skill development along with product development and design, the couple has turned the self-funded initiative into a socially responsible business, trading under the name of NAUSENI. With minimalist and modern British design, NAUSENI products are deeply inspired by the rich and diverse cultural heritage and dramatic landscape of Nepal.