Galewala Livelihood – Case Studies
Here are some examples of women who have benefitted from the vocational training in the project.
Case Study: Malakumari – Sweet Maker
Malakumari was at the sweet making training and now makes two types of sweets, the honey bangle and asmi (oil cake). Since taking out a loan, Malakumari has been able to start making both of these sweets at home, especially with her husband’s help in creating some special cooking facilities in their house. In the picture below, Malakumari’s husband, a security guard, punched some holes through a tin and added a handle so that the asmi mixture can be poured through. This creates the right look and texture for the sweet.
Both the sweets keep for 2–3 months once they have been made and don’t need to be frozen or refrigerated making them particularly convenient to make.
How to make asmi sweet:
- Take cinnamon leaves and rice flour, grinding and mixing them together before deep frying them in oil.
- After the fried mixture has sat for two weeks, deep fry them in oil, sugar and syrup.
Once every two weeks Malakumari sells her sweets to local shops. Typically, this will make her about Rs. 400 per month. On top of selling to shops, Malakumari has a reputation as an excellent sweet maker and now provides a ‘made to order’ service. The local army camp recently ordered 5000 sweets from her.
She already has orders in preparation for the upcoming Sri Lankan New Year.
Case Study: Susan – Palm Weaving and Leather Merchandise
Susan was one of the participants on the leather merchandise training programme after which she took out a loan to start making her own merchandise.
Previous training in palm weaving means that Susan can now make two types of hand-made crafts which she sells to local stalls in and around Galewala.
On 27–29 March 2015 Susan exhibited and sold some of her products at BMICH in Colombo as part of their small enterprise event.
Typical prices for her goods are (£1 = about 210 Rs.):
- Handbag Rs. 1300
- Purse Rs. 800
- Flower basket Rs. 400
- Sandals Rs. 800
- Pencil cases Rs.500
