Inspiring women from Batticaloa

By Tharishi
Hewavithanagamage-March 29, 2020, 6:39 pm

Women’s rights and gender equality took centre stage at the International Women’s Day, which was celebrated on March 8, 2020. International Women’s Day celebrates women’s achievements, from the political to the social, while calling for gender equality. The United Nations recognized the day in 1975, and it has been celebrated every year, under varying themes. The year 2020 is important for gender equality, as it marks the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, and 10 years since the establishment of UN Women, and the 20th anniversary of the UN Security Council resolution on women, peace and security. Celebrations were held, under the theme "I am Generation Equality: Realizing women’s rights," along with the hashtag ‘eachforequal’ – an equal world is an enabled world, all around the world.

In celebration of women around the world, The Island would like to share the stories of inspiring women, all the way from Batticaloa, who maintain mushroom cultivations. Although they live in some of the most rural areas in the country, with extremely dry climatic conditions, it hasn’t held them back. The women in the community are driven and hardworking individuals, pursuing their own goals and dreams.

Kunanathan Nonawathi (59) is an entrepreneur in her own right, courtesy of the commitment and hard work she put into developing her very own business model. She resides in Kiran West, Batticaloa, where she maintains a mushroom cultivation with her husband. Her work has made her the market facilitator and distributor for 24 other women who run their own mushroom cultivations in the area. She has become so successful that she now employs two other women from her village for assistance and pays them Rs. 500 a day.

Going back to the beginning, the mushroom cultivation initiative was launched under the guidance of the "Sri Lanka Gender and Disability Inclusive Economic Development Project," also known as ‘iLIVE’, supported by the Australian Government and implemented by World Vision Lanka (WVL). The project is aimed at economic empowerment of nearly 8,000 vulnerable people, including persons with disabilities and women in the Northern and Eastern provinces.

The women initially joined the Savings for Transformation programme that aimed at providing financial literacy and encouraged the community to save money. The women who took part soon decided to get together and start a business. Cultivating mushrooms was the most suitable form of business, given the climatic conditions and resources available in the area.

Their idea was further encouraged as they received basic business skills and training from an external party, along with ample technical assistance and guidance through World Vision Lanka (WVL). Learning a new subject was easier said than done, as they described the issues they faced as interpreters struggled to teach them something completely new. All they learnt at the beginning was how to packet mushrooms.

As the women continued developing their new business venture, they realized that the lifespan of organic mushrooms, they were cultivating, had a shelf life of just two days. In their search for a solution, they began experimenting with the mushrooms and since then have discovered a range of innovative ways to use their produce to create other products. ‘Mushroom coffee’ is their best seller so far and it apparently sells faster than their usual mushroom packets.

Not many have heard of ‘mushroom coffee’ but it is actually in demand. Nonawathi, and the other women, explained that the product derives its name due to its bitter coffee-like taste and colour. The coffee, in fact, is made with a combination of dried mushroom powder, kothamalli and dry ginger. They have also been able to export limited orders of the product to countries, like Australia and Switzerland. Since starting their business, in 2017, the group of ladies have sold various items, including ayurvedic products that incorporate mushrooms.

Jeewanathan Jesumalar (42) is the brains behind a few innovative products, such as mushroom marshmallows, pancakes, cake and even hamburger patties. She makes the marshmallows with a combination of dried mushrooms and peanuts. She even prepares the ‘panipol’ filling in the Sri Lankan version of pancakes, with sweet mushrooms. Her experiments has brought in and continues to bring in more sales.

She used to work in a grocery store before she began her work with mushrooms. She recounted how she was very shy and initially embarrassed to take part in the World Vision Lanka programme, due to her disability (which she refused to mention). "My friends used to say that they would carry me there if I refused to come," she said. In the end with little choice left, she joined the programme and since then has been able to make quick success in her work. In comparison to the Rs. 10,000 she used to earn, running the grocery store, she highlighted how she currently earns around Rs. 60,000. She also mentioned that she has been able to pay off her debts and no longer needs to take loans. She is also training people and disseminating her knowledge in 12 different places.

It’s truly inspiring to see women become breadwinners for their family and uplift the lives of other women and their families while sharing their knowledge and skills. In their pursuit of expanding the business and developing a local market for their goods, they now utilize machinery for packaging purposes. Their creativity and innovativeness knows no bounds as they continue to push themselves to do bigger and better. They started off being very unsure of their abilities and focused more on their limitations, but with time and effort they realized that it would be a waste to let their ambitions die. They stand tall as beacons of inspiration due to their driven and ambitious nature and hard work.