A little help and they're on the way

By Hiranthi Fernando

Swarna Padmakanthi was busy icing a wedding cake structure in the little shop adjoining her home. She has proved to be a resourceful entrepreneur, steadily progressing in her chosen enterprise. In her village at Arachchikatuwa, Chilaw, Swarna offers a complete wedding service to brides of the area. Her service includes dressing the bride, tailoring or hiring out the bridal clothes, styling the hair, and making the bridal bouquet and headdress as well as supplying the wedding cake, cake structure, short eats and even the wine.

Looking back, Swarna said she first followed a six month course in bridal dressing and dress making almost 20 years ago. In 1990, she joined the Agromart Society in her area and furthered her knowledge by following their training courses. Having won the Bridal Dressing competition at an Agromart Exhibition held in Chilaw in 1991, she was selected to join a study tour to Thailand.

There she followed courses in cookery. On her return after the tour too, she followed further cookery courses conducted by Agromart Outreach Foundation, learning to make cakes, short eats and wines.

When we visited Swarna four years ago, she had a little shop near her home and was carrying on a business in dress making, bridal dressing, bouquets and stockinet flowers. She had taken a loan of Rs. 10,000 through the Agromart credit scheme to buy a sewing machine. She also made and sold Tamarind Toffee to the schools and boutiques in the neighbourhood, earning around Rs.1,500 per month on their sale. Having repaid her loan, she was able to obtain another one for Rs. 15,000 which she used to buy an oven. With her own earnings, she bought a second sewing machine.

Her efforts have been rewarded. Today, Swarna has expanded her business and employs three workers. Two girls help in the sewing while the third employee assists in the cake and short eat making. She makes Milk wine and three other kinds of wine for wedding receptions. Her husband who is a retired teacher is also of great assistance. In addition to catering for weddings, Swarna supplies short eats for office parties held by companies in the area. She says the bridal dressing and bouquets are done entirely by herself while the two girls she employs assists in the sewing. For those who cannot spend on new bridal clothes, She also has a selection of bridal attire for hiring. Last month Swarna said she had six weddings to handle.

However, she explained that bridal dressing orders are not regular. There are some months when few weddings are held. Swarna has therefore embarked on a project making ladies brassieres. The "Swarny Bra" neatly packed in a cardboard box is marketed in shops in Chilaw, Puttalam, Kalpitiya, Anamaduwa, Wariyapola, Nikaweratiay, Pallama and Marawila. "We turn out forty pieces daily. Once a month, I take them for sale myself. Each month we cover different areas," Swarna said.

In addition to all this, Swarna raises a milk cow and calf which supply them with sufficient milk for their family. "We needed one packet of milk powder daily," she said."Now we don't need to buy any milk."

Swarna and her husband are engaged in building a new home for their family of four sons and one daughter. Her husband's pension as well as her own earnings have been put into the house. Having reached the first floor slab level, the construction has been temporarily halted in order to collect the money required. Swarna is hopeful they would be able to resume the construction soon.

Swarna Padmakanthi is a good example of a rural woman entrepreneur who has benefited by the training and credit schemes offered by the Agromart Outreach Foundation to achieve a better quality of life.

The Chairperson, Ms. Beulah Moonesinghe said Agromart offers an economic development service to benefit rural entrepreneurs especially women. "Women in the rural sector of Sri Lanka are among the marginalised poor in the country," she said. Agromart Foundation works in seven districts in four provinces namely, Kurunegala and Chilaw in the North Western province, Galle, Matara and Hambantota in the Southern Province, Moneragala in Uva and Ampara in the North East.

Agromart field officers go into villages and select people of low income who would benefit by the training programmes. The courses are selected according to the area they live in and the products they can produce. Most of the projects are livestock, agriculture, horticulture and floriculture. However, they are also getting into areas such as food processing, handicrafts and dress making. Agromart trains the women to make their agriculture more productive and profitable. When they start a small enterprise, the new entrepreneurs are given courses on economic management of their projects. The training also involves market surveys. The women in the various AGA divisions form themselves into Agromart societies or "Samithis" and continue their training and also learn from each other. "We are trying to empower them, thereby helping them to be leaders in their areas," Ms. Moonesinghe said. "Unless they participate in their own development, they do not obtain their rights. We have to teach them to find their own markets and survive, not depending on others for solutions. Some have really succeeded.

Ms. G.H.S. Chandrasekera of Arachchikatuwa has come a long way since she first started her home garden in 1991. When her husband died of a heart attack., she needed to earn an income to support her young son. Having seen an Agromart exhibition garden, she started cultivating a home garden. At the Agromart home garden competition in 1993, she won a place on a local farm tour. They were taken to Mahaillupperuma and Bindunuwewa where they learned about agricultural projects, home gardens and bee keeping. Having improved her home garden the following year, she was selected to join a study tour to Thailand.

In her garden today, she grows a wide variety of fruit trees and vegetables and yams. She has a Betel creeper from which she sells 400 to 500 leaves every week. In one corner, she grows medicinal plants and in another, all the curry leaves and other spices needed in the kitchen such as cinnamon, ginger, tumeric and pepper. She also has a grape vine which bears twice an year.

Ms. Chandrasekera who works mostly alone, cultivates mushrooms in a darkened shed in the garden and even has two bee boxes. She hires workers when needed.

"I learned in Thailand, that doing several enterprises is more profitable. Also if one fails, I still have the others to fall back on," Chandrasekera said. Putting this into practice, in her front garden, she grows potted foliage plants, fruit plants, and flowering plants and cut flowers which she sells at home and also takes to the pola at Arachchikatuwa. She makes preserves and juice from the Nelli fruit which is usually bought by the members of her Samithi.

It is incredible that Chandrasekera still manages to raise four cows and four calves. Three of the cows are about to deliver while the fourth is amilk cow. Her 15 year old son helps with the cattle after he returns from school. "Because I work, I remain healthy," said Chandrasekera who is 56 years old. "We learned this from our experiences in Thailand. Through Agromart we have learned economic management of our projects and we can keep our account books systematically. By participating in the Samithis, we have also learned leadership. Now we are not frightened to talk but can go forward."

Sriyani Gunawardene also from Arachchikatuwa is another Agromart member who has gone forward successfully. Sriyani who won a tour to Thailand for her home garden, became interested in the prawn cultivation she saw there. Her land at Arachchikatuwa was conveniently situated by the SenagalOya. On her return she started with one small prawn tank, putting in 5000 small prawns. Earning a good income, she gradually expanded the business. She now has four tanks of half acre each. Into each tank she puts in 35,000 young prawns and is able to harvest about 900 kilos of large prawns. She manages the farm together with husband and two employees.

At Wilpatha, Agnes Philomena turns out a variety of interesting items using the ëmatoluí, the dry fibrous waste material from the coconut tree. She has bought three sewing machines and employs one girl to assist. Philomena who also trains others in the craft at the Agromart training sessions, makes about 500 pieces per month. She says she can sell all she makes and is quite satisfied with her enterprise. In addition she also takes dress making orders for the people of the village. In January this year, with a loan of Rs.30,000 from Agromart she built a workroom on her land. Here she also sells ready made clothes. Philomena says that since the shop was opened in January, she has made a profit of Rs.10,000/= from the shop alone.

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