Yak Shak

General information

After travelling through India and Nepal for many years ,Ian fell in love with a town called Pokhara in Nepal. That is where he started to volunteer in 2004 in a local children’s home. He had a instant bond with the children and staff. Thanks to a very accommodating boss back in Belfast (Thanks Tony) Ian could return for the next 5 years and spend 6 months each year in Nepal and India ,he spent most of his time with the children teaching football in Pokhara. He also spent time in many remote parts of Western Nepal, these areas were only accessible by foot and many of the population lived in poverty. Ian saw the poverty of village life first hand and how hard daily life was .He was also inspired by the Nepalese people who despite having many problems, were always very welcoming and a smile was never far away. .

In 2006 with the help of family and friends Ian established a registered charity called Sathi Nepali ,its focus is to work in remote areas of West Nepal. You can find more about the work on the Sathi Nepali link,.

In 2007 Ian married a wonderful Nepalese woman whom he had known for a number of years, Gita and Ian set off for a new adventure back in Belfast. On their return Ian got a few part time jobs, but full time employment was hard to find as the recession was talking grip. This backdrop set the scene for both their futures so they decided to start their first business .They decided to bring some of the colourful and beautiful products from Nepal to sell in Belfast.

In 2008 they started their business in the popular St Georges market in Belfast. They had 3 products and 2 suppliers. They started under the name of Hasta Kalah , which means handicraft in Nepalese. The people took to the Nepalese products instantly as tthey where unique and so colourful. They both realised they had a passion for what they were doing and loved dealing with the new customers they were getting every weekend at St Georges.

There business continued to go from strength to strength and in 2012 they rebranded and renamed to a more family feel name and logo, but still represented where their items came from. Now they have a very large range of items

-Felt range
-Wall hangings
- Hemp range
-Scarves
-Himalayan Shawls
- Cotton bags
-Recycled silk bag

and many more .Now they have 11 great suppliers, this number continues to grow each year

We still use the 2 original suppliers and the 3 original items that we started selling are still our most popular, these being wall hangings, shawls and elephant hangings.


The journey began back in 2004 when Ian started volunteering in the children’s home teaching football ,those children are now between 15 – 22 and now they are teaching Ian how to play football The Yak Shak team love nothing more than going back to Nepal to meet with family ,friends, suppliers and of course to do some work We spend a few months each year there searching for new items, working on projects and of course spending time with our loved ones.

We at Yak Shak would like to thank all our suppliers, customers, family, friends and everyone who has helped Yak Shak over the years. Also a big thank you to all the Sathi Nepali supporters since it began.Yak Shak and Sathi Nepali could not be where it is now without you all .

Dhanyabad ( Nepalese for Thank you ) ;)





I hope you enjoyed their story.

VISION

- Live your Life in Colour

MISSION

- Working together by building sustainable relationships throughout Nepal , to deliver quality products to your door at affordable prices.

VALUES

- Family orientated
- Quality
- Personally sourced
- Fair-trade
- Customer focused