A life with dignity
Founder
Having experienced the trauma of becoming an unfortunate widow at a tender age of 24 and taking on the challenge of single parenthood can take its toll on any person. Life becomes an agonizing fight against many odds and also keeping the wolf at bay. The unfair attempts at exploitation of the vulnerable by the unscrupulous elements of the society too can be a regular irritation that would have cowed many a single mother. Weathering the storm and with a strong resolve and passion to support and assist other women in distress led to the founding of Empower Women Association (EMWA) by M R F Riyasa a lady hailing from the central hills of Kandy and a mother of 2 lovely daughters. She was born in Gurutalawa in the Uva Province where she had a primary education and later settled in Kandy after marriage when the unexpected tragedy happened. She is happily married once again and is determined to carry on with the struggle of alleviating poverty and improve the living standards of the vulnerable.
Objective
Empower Women Association was founded in the year 2014 with the sole intention of providing “ a life with dignity” for the poor and unfortunate widows, divorcees, orphans and the destitute and grant them with a decent means of living with independence.
As we celebrate our 10th Anniversary a sense of satisfaction prevails as much work has been done to alleviate the standards of the vulnerable. However, a cause for concern is the increase in number of widows and also the alarming proliferation of divorcees due to manifold reasons.
Our journey would not be possible without the support of our benevolent and magnanimous donors, where we are seeing a steady and welcome increase in numbers and gives us the confidence and resolve to carry on with our struggle of empowering women.
Year 2023 was a very fruitful year with manifold activities as highlighted below:
Self Employment
The main thrust of EMWA has been in this sphere as its leads to sustainable income generating opportunities and have provided standard sewing machines, Industrial Juki Machines, cooking utensils for various types of food catering, starting up of cottage industries and retail grocery outlets. Means to income generation has also been extended to destitute elderly males by the provision of wheel carts and bicycles to facilitate door to door sales of various day to day consumables.
We have assisted over 100 beneficiaries and are pleased to record that some of the recipients have excelled and are firmly established in their respective areas of income generation and are living independently.
Education and Training
Orphan Assistance
Empower Women Association has facilitated financial assistance to over 400 orphans in our pursuit to grant them a continuous education, general wellbeing and become useful citizens and eventually contribute positively to the community and society at large
Advanced Level & University Scholarships
Several poor and needy students aspiring for higher education were granted financial assistance to defray expenses for the full duration of the course/stream selected with the period of payment ranging for 18 months for A/L students and 36 to 54 months for University students.
Vocational Training
Young widows and divorcees were trained in the field of culinary arts, baking and micro business ventures which also included training in sales and financial management. Arrangements were also made to provide basic utensils like electric ovens and other cake baking accessories to commence their respective fields of expertise soon after completion of training.
Food for the needy
A regular program carried right around the year has been the provision of dry ration food packs to the vulnerable which has also evidenced a dramatic increase due to the economic downturn in the country with many a household not having recourse to even one meal a day. Over 1000 families have been assisted under this program every year especially in the holy month of Ramadan. A recent development has been the distribution of cooked meals every Friday with the demand growing every week.
Water & Electricity Connections
Water and electricity are an essential need at this present world for a family in addition to the food. Under this program many households were provided with water and electricity connections . Additionally as water supply is restricted in many areas arrangements were also made to provide storage tanks to 0ver 500 households.
Housing and Infrastructure
In addition to the electricity and water connection, several households were provided assistance to complete construction works such as, house wiring, roofing and basic sanitary facility (Toilets). The inclement weather that prevailed for a major of last year with gale force winds left behind a trail of destruction causing in the lives of the poor and destitute. Here again EMWA was able to facilitate repair work through the generosity of our donor base.
Land and housing
A highlight last year was the construction and handing over of a house to a widow with two children for the first time in our 10 years history which was totally funded by one donor. It was heartening to see the joy and pride in the eyes of the beneficiary and the gratifying satisfaction to EMWA by taking on an ambitious and challenging activity.
Community Projects
SrI Lanka despite being an island nation suffers from a major deficiency of clean water for drinking and other daily needs. Many villagers are forced to trek several miles to fetch water causing a lot of hardship and hygiene issues. We are happy to record that we facilitated the construction of xxxxxx deep wells in conjunction with the Masjid in the respective area. The construction was carried out on Mosque land with the onus of maintaining the well and ensuring regular supply of water to all the residents in the Mahallah for an affordable levy from the householders to defray the electricity charges borne by the mosque.
EMWA also facilitated the construction of xxxxxx tube wells both for individual and clusters of houses mostly in the Eastern Province.
General
Giving succour to the poor and needy can be likened to a bottomless pit. It can never be satiated to its fullest. Never the less EMWA has established a network in most parts of the island through the appointment of coordinators whose job entails the identification of the needy and acting as a conduit for the disbursement of assistance as and when donors respond to our appeals.
May Allah swt shower his blessings on all of us
