Investing in women's economic empowerment is crucial. Empowering women sets a direct path towards gender equality, poverty eradication and inclusive economic growth. Women make enormous contributions to economies, whether it be in businesses, on farms, or as entrepreneurs.
This economic crisis is extra hard for single mothers. We have identified some of them who need an extra support. With your help we can save them from negative coping mechanisms during this crisis and help them get through.
Meet Masha Malpiyali…
Masha is a 39-year-old mother with four daughters of ages 6, 7, 10 and 16. Her husband has abandoned the family and doesn’t provide any support. She looks after her four children by sewing doormats and stitching cloths and selling ready-made clothes. She borrows her neighbour’s sewing machine to do her work and she earns only around LKR 500 to LKR 1,000 per day. Her situation has become more challenging now with the existing financial crisis as she is finding it extremely hard to educate and feed her four children.
Masha says that if she has her own sewing machine she could extend her work time and stitch extra for selling and increase her income by LKR 15,000 to 20,000 a day.
With your help, Masha will be able to better support her daughter and provide for her needs.
Meet Dilakshi Madushani...
Dilakshi is a 34-year-old mother of two daughters of ages 3 and 12. Her husband is serving a prison sentence for life and she provides for her daughters by selling carpets, cosmetics and homemade food items to the villagers. This is her only means of income which amounts to between LRK 750 – LKR 1000 per day. But right now, her earnings are insufficient to support her family’s daily financial needs, she dreams of giving her children more than one meal a day. She is doing her business from her home, but if she can move her business to the nearby road she will be able to generate a lot more income by having more customers.
Dilakshi is hoping that when she owns her mobile food selling cart, she will be able to move from place to place along the main roads and attract a lot more customers.
Meet Kusuma Mallika…
Kusuma (57) is a widower looking after her two grandchildren of ages 14 and 18 since their mother abandoned them. Kusuma earns only around LKR 15,000.00 a month by tailoring at home. With the cost of living sky rocketing she is struggling to pay for her grandchildren’s education.
With LKR 100,000, you can help her get the sewing machine she needs, this cutting machine will improve the neatness and the quality of the product and in turn will generate a better income.
Her dream is to give a better future for her grandchildren by being able to pay for their education.
Meet Janaki Kusum…
Janaki (51) is a mother of two children aged 11 and 19. She supports the family working as a tailor, stitching cloths and selling them for people in the village from her brother’s house. She only earns a meagre salary of LKR 18,000.
Janaki has been a member of the producer group. She has previously been supported by World Vision Lanka in order for her to acquire a ‘Juki machine’. However, with constant money worries, this machine alone is proving difficult for her to sufficiently improve her income. She is looking for help to acquire an ‘overlock machine’ as this would improve the quality of the sewing. With a bigger income she will be able to pay for her children’s education which she is currently finding difficult to do.
Meet Surani...
Surani (40) is a mother to three children of ages 13, 17, 19. She sells food such as rice, string hoppers, rolls, rotti and noodles at a school canteen. She has a net profit of around LKR 1,500 per day. With this income she tries to provide for her children and pay for any of their medical bills which she is finding it hard to do.
She wants to increase production so that at the very least she will be able to fulfill the basic daily needs of her family, such as buying food and school supplies. With a 10L pressure cooker she will be able to produce more of each food to meet the larger demand.
Meet Patricia...
Patricia is a mother of two children of ages 4 and 13. Her husband is in a rehabilitation centre for substance abuse. One of her two children is suffering from epilepsy. To earn an income, Patricia has been running a small boutique from her sister's house. With the current financial crisis in the country, she is finding it hard to provide for her family. She would like to use her sewing skills to start a sewing business and generate an additional income to pay for the basic needs for her children. With your help, she could be gifted a sewing machine to make her dream a reality.
Meet Priyanka...
Priyanka along with her 19-year-old daughter lives with her mother as she can’t afford her own place. She also provides for her mother and has to pay the house bills. She earns LKR 20,000 a month by sewing bags. With her small monthly earnings she is unable to fulfill her daughter's basic needs such as buying school supplies.
With the economic crisis, not only have bills gone up but materials too. Priyanka says if she can be supported to get a Bartack Machine she would be able to produce more bags to meet the current demand, and generate a higher income.
Meet Kusuma Swarnamalika...
Kusuma is a 59-year-old mother living in a small rural village with her 16-year-old daughter. She is a tailor running her business from her small house. She started building a small place but due to Covid-19 followed by Sri Lanka's worst economic crisis Kusuma was unable to complete her new place with the small income of LKR 15,000 she gets each month.
She is looking to expand her business to provide for her child’s basic needs in health and education which she is currently struggling to do. With your financial help to buy this sewing machine, she will be able to expand her business, attract new customers, and improve her livelihood in order to keep her daughter in school.
