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2. Master Palachandran Prathap 11, is in urgent need of open heart surgery at the Nawaloka Hospital as the waiting list at the National Hospital and Jayawardanapura Hospital extends beyond two years. 

The total cost of the operation is Rs. 198,000. The President's Fund has allocated Rs. 125,000. His father was abducted and killed by unidentified persons in1990, and his mother who is solely dependent on food stamps to feed the family is unable to provide the balance Rs. 73,000. The Family Rehabilitation Centre which has taken up Prathap's cause urges kind donors to contribute generously towards his recovery. Cash or cheques could be sent to Account No: 207-054232-0 at the Kalmunai People's Bank. 

3. Hemantha P. Jayatunga of 767/4 Millagahawatte Road, Malabe, is suffering from chronic renal failure and needs a kidney transplant in an Indian hospital. The cost is estimated at around Rs. 1 million.

His blood group is O positive. Any kind donor who is willing to donate a kidney is requested to contact him on Tel-869002 (home) 928559 (office) 0722-34206 mobile, or Mr. Percy Perera, Lions Club of Malabe Talangama, No. 325 Ekamuthu Mawatha, Talangama North-Tel 869296. To assist him the Lions Club has opened a savings account No-100381162049 at the Bank of Ceylon, Borella and contributions may be sent direct. 

Lanka Mahila Samithi grooms young rural women

By Lalitha K. Witanachchi

This is the time of year when the focus is not only on women, what with Women's Day, but also on their achievements. It is also the time to evaluate the work done by various organisations to bring relief to women and improve their living conditions. 

One of the oldest associations in Sri Lanka is the Lanka Mahila Samiti which recognised very early the right of women to self-employment - where women could be taught a craft to be pursued at home without juggling between home and career. 

Several Lanka Mahila Centres have been set up, offering courses to train women in income generating fields like cookery, sewing, handicrafts and agriculture with a focus on environmental and reproductive health. 

A quarter mile from Divulaptiya, in Wewagedera, Gampaha the Lanka Mahila Samiti Training Centre is set in idyllic surroundings amidst paddy land. A cool breeze blows across the ripened paddy that swirls in gentle waves while white herons wade in the adjoining marshes. Wetakeiya grows in abundance and provides the raw material for the handicrafts taught here. 

A large building with L-shaped hall, nursery, kitchen, dining room and demonstration room provides ample space for the young women who are trained here. 

The one-acre block on which this buidling stands was a donation to the Lanka Mahila Samiti, while the funding for the centre and the two-year project was given by the German Agro Action with monitoring by their local counterpart. 

The centre was started in 1995 to train young women from 10 villages within a radius of three to 10 miles. This has now increased to 18 such samitisin this area. 

School-leavers who are Mahila Samiti members are trained here in sewing, cookery, agriculture and handicrafts. 

Under Mrs. K. Winifred Perera of the Jathika Shilpa Sabhava of the National Handicrafts Board, Battaramulla Jana Kala Kendra who is in charge of the handicrafts section women learn to make fruit baskets, shopping bags, table mats, waste paper baskets etc., from the wetakeiya that grows nearby. 

The fibre is prepared by boiling, then soaking in water and drying in the hot sun. It is then kept outdoors for two nights to catch the dew for it to turn white. 

It is then coloured with natural dyes called kukul sayam. 

Classes are held five days a week for school-leavers, most of whom have passed two or three Advanced Level subjects. When we visited the centre, Banduwathi Alwis, A.N. Tilakawathi, Nirosha Shiranthi, Asoka Adikari, Manel Podimenike and Nishantha Priyanka from Divulapitiya, Watinapaha and Hapuwalana, were receiving training. Unable to find jobs they had opted to learn a craft that would bring them a steady income. Each trainee undergoing a six-month training is paid Rs. 450 per month by the Jathika Shilpa Sabha. 

Cookery and dress-making classes were also eagerly followed by trainees. At the end of the course those who pass the tests conducted by recognised examiners are awarded certificates that would open doors for them to find employment. 

There is also a nursery school attached to this centre, which enables young mothers to leave their children aged 3 to 5 years, to be cared for while they do domestic work or a part-time job. 

On the day we visited the centre there was a Singithi Pola. Little girls dressed in cloth and jacket had brought various products from their home gardens and sweets prepared by their mothers for sale. The day's sales brought in Rs. 825 which they propose to use for the New Year celebrations. 

There are 20 children in this day care centre which is run by Mrs. S.A. Karunaratne - trained at the Mahila Samiti Kaduwela Training Centre - assisted by Dilrukshi Edirisinghe who was trained at the Asia Lanka Friendship Association. The nursery is a boon to the working mothers as their children are taken good care of and also given an introduction to religion, good manners, art, clay-work etc. Story time is a subject the little ones love. At play time there are climbing frames, swings, see-saws, mat slides and plenty of space to run around in the well-maintained garden. 

The Mahila Samiti is divided into 32 unions in different districts, with one having two or three repesentetives from each of these samiti coming together for union meetings twice a year, to exchange ideas and liaise with the parent association. Members of the parent association trained in field work are in charge of these unions. 

The Mahila Samiti has helped rural women to run their homes well, care for their children and improve their financial status so that they could live with dignity. 

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