WOMEN'S SMALL BUSINESS SUPPORT
A post-tsunami program that gives low-caste women higher hopes, plus practical help to get their small business dreams up and running.
What is the need?
Women living in Amirthakali are often the underdogs of their society and need a way out of their impoverished prison.
If you were born in this impoverished Sri Lankan town, you'd have a 50% chance of being born into a family of the Doby class - the second lowest of the local caste structure system.
Traditionally, your best hopes for future employment would be limited to washing someone else's laundry, arranging funeral processions and digging graves. If you're a woman, the choices are even more limited.
The general lack of education, coupled with marital infidelity and abandonment, plus the devastating effects of the 2004 tsunami has left this town in dire straits.
How do we help?
Samaritan's Purse has launched a Women's Small Business Support program that is training these women to successfully develop and run their own business, and equipping them with the start-up materials they need.
• We specifically want to help women who were affected by the tsunami and have not received any significant assistance. This includes women who have been abandoned by their husband, widowed, a child of a widow, and orphans. Many are women single-handedly trying to support a household.
• Each woman is engaged in a different type of small business, from grocery shops to juice-making to preparing traditional Tamil meals.
• All of the women we're helping have lacked the capital necessary to purchase essential goods (many have been living on profits equivalent to 55 cents per day). Our special grants will provide the resources these entrepreneurs need to develop their businesses.
• Some women lack business acumen but try to ply their goods in the marketplace, which make them especially vulnerable. Through our ongoing relationship and coaching, Samaritan's Purse aims to increase the business capacity of these women and establish them as vibrant entrepreneurs.
• Prior to the tsunami, several women were distinguished caterers. Since the tsunami they've not been able to provide a consistent supply to meet the demand for their products, but our support now means they can afford to buy the basic items they need to keep their business afloat.
•Without our support, women like this could be left in a cycle of failure, frustration and financial ruin, with loan sharks threatening to make their situations even worse. Hence, there's an enormous need to implement more projects of this nature.
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How it's changing lives:
The women in our Small Business Support program are enjoying great success and have a renewed sense of self esteem as a result.
• This is a great triumph, because most of them have suffered enormous losses and have been taken advantage of. In addition, many of these women have been marginalised because Sri Lankan culture has viewed them as burdensome.
• Through this project, Samaritan's Purse reduces this negative view and provides these women with a sustainable livelihood.
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| How you can be involved? |
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