The district of Hambantota is home to many talented and enterprising women who use their skills and talents to engage in self employment, helping them to support their families or supplement earnings of their spouses.

For these women it’s a life of many obstacles to contend with. The Hambantota

‘Women’s Action Committee’ has 35 active members. Each member received Rs.1,500 to start up a productive enterprise of their choice. The main activities that have been embarked on are – home garden plots of vegetables, flower and ornamental plant nurseries, manufacturing sweet meats, sewing and the sale of clothes for children and adults.

Unfortunately they cannot obtain optimum returns for their hard work due to the readily available imported items such as cheap confectionary and others that constitute of competitive alternatives.

The chairperson of the committee Sumithra Dissanayake of Ikkalpallama – Gonagamuwa

said, “ we cultivate gotukola and other green leaves and long beans in our home plots in addition to flower plants. We go to the lakes in Tissamaharama to collect Bulrush and make mats and other types of boxes, coin purses and such items. But our people prefer the same items that are made in Korea and China, to our local products.”

 The grievance of Pushpa Sriyani of Ikkalperuma has a pointed message to those who champion micro credit as a means of poverty alleviation. “I go to Colombo to bring material of quality to sew children’s garments which are more durable than those available in the market. My problem is that I don’t have a proper sales outlet. I can develop my business if I have more capital to invest. Private banks do not lend us money,” she said.

This situation she says has discourages these enterprising women from even opening a bank account, “besides they all want guarantors,” she adds.

G.Somi nona who is 47-years old produces a range of products out of bulrush including mats, and other items. She has even produced items using discarded materiel. “There is no real market for my products as people prefer imported plastic substitutes to mine,” she says. Her other problem is that she too has no access to an established sales outlet.

Kulapathi Wijesinghe grows a variety of flower plants and uses her skill to do various arrangements. But sadly people opt for plastic flowers and plants to the natural variety she laments. Chandra Galappathy, the secretary of the ‘Women’s Society’ living in Yodakandiya started a project to grow local grains and sew clothes. She also makes oil cakes, kokis  and various sweet meats preferred by Sri Lankans.

What she lacks is the facility to pack them in attractive wrapping. Chandra Gapapathy feels the government should consider helping them in a manner that allows them to mass produce these items and market them.

The District Secretary of Tissamaharama said there were many women with such entrepreneurial skills of this nature in Tissamaharama, but admitted the facilities offered to them were in adequate.

Note by Editor: Chandra Galapathy of Yodakandiya in that remote corner of the Ruhunu Rata has a point. Colombo supermarkets sell Kokis in packs of ten priced at Rs. 150/= Oil cakes are also available in some places in Colombo at Rs.30/= per piece. During the Sinhala and Hindu new year all leading Super Market chains had special counters with dressed up sales girls in Jacket and Cloth offering every kind of traditional sweet meats. I bought five of each item except for Kalu Dodol which was in the shape of a fairly large Sausage and the total cost exceeded Rs.1000.