Stories

Tharanga Priyadarshani like other women in her fishing community faced the problems of poverty and marginalization. Her husband is a laborer earning daily wages that is insufficient to feed a family of 5 children. They were thinking of various ways to overcome poverty but failed as they lacked basic skills in venturing into business. Furthermore, Tharangaâ??s main job was to take care of children and that led to no room to engage in other activities. As time passed by 2 children got married as they reached the age of marrying and Tharanga was left with 3 children and her husband. As she was burned with poverty, she was a member of the Samurdi programme. Government-sponsored poverty alleviation programme. The Corona pandemic that plagued the country in the middle of 2020 put the family in a dire situation. Her husband did not get enough work to feed the family as there were lockdowns. Amidst all these hardships she came to know about the assistance provided by the â??Sayura Dheewara Kantha Samithiyaâ?? for women to engage in income generating activities as a mean of overcoming poverty. Tharanga became a member of the society and learnt about the societyâ??s programme of supporting poor families. She was selected for the oyster cultivation project and she was provided with an oyster rack and 20 oyster pouches along with the others. Up to now Tharanga has around 500 marketable oysters and she was able to sell some oysters 02 times with other beneficiaries to nearby hotels in the area around Rs.35 per oyster. But the results were not enough for the effort. Therefore, she gradually became disillusioned with the project. As time went by, she started poultry farming in her house on a small scale. At first, it was broiler chickens. But it was not durable because of those animals started dying due to diseases. So, it too was abandoned with only the nest remaining. Tharanga learnt the skills of poultry farming provided by Sayura Dheewara Kantha Samithiya. She not only learnt the skills of poultry farming, but also learnt how to make poultry farming a profitable business. The she started again it with country chicken because of feeding can be done easily and the eggs of the country chicken is higher than broiler chickens. Having learnt the technical and business skills of poultry farming Tharanga received a loan of Rs.30,000 from the society, that was facilitated by Sri Lanka Centre for Development Facilitation. Currently, Tharanga possesses 15 chickens from 5 initially, and earning nearly Rs. 20,000 monthly. This income significantly aids her in meeting her day-to-day expenses and save a little as well. Tharanga's story is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity. Her unwavering determination to build a better life for her family is truly inspiring and shows what can be achieved through hard work and perseverance.