Hambantota's budding entrepreneurs seek better markets

Shirajiv SIRIMANE in Hambantota

The Hambantota area is being transformed into one of the most developed areas in Asia with an international airport, harbour, highways, overhead bridges and many other infrastructure facilities falling in to place.

The Hambantota City which is a major contender to host the 2018 edition of the Commonwealth Games has also seen global players like Shangri-La Hotel chain, Intel and other entrepreneurs already investing.

These positive developments are creating new employment and self employment openings which would help the community to move up in the social ladder.

However one of the gray areas rural entrepreneurs are facing is the lack of skills and technology.

World Vision International Hambantota District Coordinator, Aruna Liyanage said that in a bid to fill this void they are conducting a series of workshops mainly targeting self employees in the area.

He said over the years, they have been conducting series of workshops and seminars targeting the rural entrepreneur which has proved to be very successful.

These training secessions have proved very fruitful with some of the participants already having their own businesses. He explained that these workshops run to around three months and along with the technical know-how, training and on the job training. "We have some times gone out of our way to provide them financial assistance," he said.

Menaka Kumari from Jayagama, Hambantota said that the training she received from World Vision has helped her basically to 'live.'

"I only knew a few months ago that I am affected with Leukaemia and I need almost Rs. 800 per day for my medicine to live and maintain my eight year old daughter," she said.

She said that she is still finding it difficult to market her products (shoes and slippers) and looking at the 'Colombo community' for assistance.

"I am not asking for financial help but if some one can come forward to purchase my products at a reasonable price I would be more than happy," she said. She thanked World Vision for coming to her help.

P. Thushari who is involved in the manufacture of Batik also said that she is looking out for an opening in Colombo to market her products. "Hambantota is still not ready to accept my products which may be too expensive for them," she said. She also said that prices of raw materials are also increasing and this too is a concern for her.

W.H. Sajeevani, into the manufacture of coir based products such as rugs and brooms said that the demand for these items are not high. "However coir is still in demand especially for the agriculture sector and this is still a lucrative business for us," she said. Manufacturer or of handbags from Berali Hela, Chithara Kumudini said that the training they received from World Vision has helped them to produce a top product.

"However we sadly lack the market," she said.

Liyanage said that finding a market is still a gray area and they are looking at this aspect. "We are looking at establishing a market place in Hambantota so that all these manufacturers can come under one roof and have a better bargaining power to sell their products," he said.

Liyanage also outlined plans to conduct an annual exhibition in Colombo with these entrepreneurs. Established in 1950 to care for orphans in Asia, World Vision has grown to embrace the larger issues of community development and advocacy for the poor in its mission to help children and their families build sustainable futures.

The heart of World Vision's work is in helping communities build stronger and healthier relationships. The absence of such relationships impoverishes communities.

Through emergency relief, education, health care, economic development and promotion of justice, World Vision helps communities help themselves. Today, over 18,000 committed men and women work in over 100 countries serving 2.1 million sponsored children.

Today, with 500 staff and over 1,500 community volunteers, WVL assists 63,000 sponsored children in 36 ADPs, covering over 1000 villages across 21 districts of Sri Lanka.