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At a recent ceremony we were delighted to present equipment to the business women we are supporting through the Women’s Chamber of Commerce in Matara. This project provides the equipment and raw materials to assist women whose small businesses were affected by the tsunami, rebuilding livelihoods in this badly affected area.

The Women’s Chamber of Commerce conducted a thorough survey to assess the affects on livelihoods of the women in the community. Aid Sri Lanka provided funds to purchase equipment for 51 women in the string hopper (local noodle dish) business and 17 women in the bridal dressing business to enable them to restart their commercial enterprise.

It is particularly important to restore these businesses and reinstate their capacity to earn money without delay as it is not only the women’s livelihoods which has been damaged, but in many cases the other wage-earners of the family have also lost their business and income is scarce, making an already difficult life even harder.

It was a wonderful ceremony and it was fantastic to meet the women and to be able to present them with the goods. In addition, the ceremony was a public acknowledgement of the donation, aiming to prevent the sale or misuse of the equipment. It has occurred on a number of occasions that aid received by tsunami survivors is sent to friends and family inland so it appears that the coastal families are sill in need. While it is hard to judge such practices negatively from the comfort of our well-equipped homes we are keen that the goods are put to their intended use which will have a long-term, sustainable impact on the women and their families. Each woman therefore signed an agreement to use the equipment for commercial purposes and not to sell it. An evaluation will be carried out shortly and continued support with maintenance and repair will be provided.

This is only the first stage of this project. We also intend to assist with the production of business cards and signs and to build the capacity of local businesswomen through training programmes in skills such as marketing.

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