Awards for Eastern tsunami victims under Sustainable Livelihood
Project
KALUBOWILA: High Commissioner of India Nirupama Rao was the chief
guest at the awards ceremony of the sustainable livelihood project for
tsunami victims from the Eastern Province held at the Academy of Adult
Education for Women, Kalubowila, at the invitation of Deshabandu Jezima
Ismail, the President Emeritus and guiding force of the Academy of Adult
Education for Women.
Certificates of completion of course were handed out to around 30
tsunami-affected female participants from the East at this function. The
course imparted valuable skills in embroidery, cooking, catering and
stitching geared to making the young women financially independent.
Deshabandu Jezima Ismail thanked the High Commissioner of India for
the assistance provided by the High Commission to the Academy of Adult
Education for Women. She outlined the role of the Academy in providing
skills training to regular batches of tsunami-affected women of all
communities from the East. She also spoke of the efforts she was
presently making to provide housing for tsunami victims in the East.
High Commissioner Nirupama Rao began by speaking of how she viewed
Eastern Sri Lanka as a microcosm of Sri Lanka itself with its mix of all
the communities. She spoke of her many visits there and her interactions
with the people of the region.
She expressed her deep appreciation for the valuable contribution
made by Deshabandu Jezima Ismail and the Sustainable Livelihood Project
for Tsunami victims towards the rehabilitation and re-integration of
tsunami-affected persons.
She expressed willingness on behalf of the Government of India to
engage in further grass roots projects to succour and assist
tsunami-affected persons, whether in the sector of housing or livelihood
generation. She called upon the Project authorities to also examine the
possibility of credit and micro-credit provision on relaxed terms by
Indian banks operating in Sri Lanka to deserving persons to start their
own entrepreneurial operations.
The High Commissioner recalled that in her earlier Ambassadorial
posting in Peru, she had come across an unusual and effective self-help
tool employed by women of the poorer sections - the popular kitchen. A
cluster of families would ensure that cooking for all families on any
given day would be done at one place by some of the ladies, thereby
freeing the rest of the ladies to engage in remunerative employment
elsewhere. |