Where there is passion, there is progress

Dhammika (54) is a single-mother and has been providing for her two daughters on her own since they were ten and thirteen. She lives in Puttlam district, western Sri Lanka, where the majority of communities depend on agriculture for a living. She recalls trying her best to make ends meet, surviving on just the vegetables produced by her garden. Her eldest daughter had been with World Vision’s sponsorship program at the time.

Today, as she walks through her banana and turkey-berry (locally known as thibbatu) cultivation that spans 3 acres, she points out surrounding land that once used to belong to her but that she had sold-off to pay for her children’s education.

A microfinance loan from VisionFund helped her pull through an especially difficult time during the dry season where her water-line had been cut-off due to unpaid bills. She had almost given up her cultivation and had been struggling to manage everyday expenses.

Her sister had told her about a new women’s loan product offered by VisionFund Lanka at a lower interest to support single-mothers and widows needing financial assistance for small businesses, and she applied.

A loan of 40,000 LKR (USD 220) helped her reconnect her water supply, and hire some women workers to help reinstate her cultivation land.  She is now expecting her first harvest of turkey-berries and is excited about the profit that they will bring her.

Her eldest daughter is now married, and her youngest is soon to be, and she happily points out a banana tree carrying a large bunch that she intends to lay out during the wedding celebrations. Single-handedly educating and providing for her daughters had been no easy task and she continues to maintain different small sources of income to fulfil her responsibilities to them. She has a few trees that produce cashew nuts, she sews clothes for her neighbours, and she also sells chilli powder.

“Do what you can do and what you like; not what others tell you to do, even if they may bring more income,” is Dhammika’s advice to other women struggling to find the right livelihoods. “You have to be comfortable with what you’re doing to succeed.”

Globally, over 71% of VisionFund’s clients are women, and with special loan products that cater to the unique needs of women in rural areas, women like Dhammika are empowered to build successful businesses and provide for their children.