Lankan beauty expert helps Mullaitivu women to be employable
View(s):Nayana Karunaratne, member of the Board of Governors and a Trustee of the NGO “Sri Lanka Unites”, recently conducted a day’s training programme for 50 young unemployed women and students in the Mullaitivu district.
Being a region where unemployment is high, Ms. Karunaratne’s Image Academy of Hair and Beauty (IHB) company targeted these women to introduce the beauty and hairdressing skills to check the interest and the talent available to further training.
Following the day’s programme, 10 selected candidates were voluntarily sponsored by Ms. Karunaratne for a special certificate course in hair and beauty at her Colombo centre for the purpose of making them employable. “While teaching them the basic process involved and blending their talents and skills to cater to the needs of their relevant environments, encouragement was given to setting up their own salons. They just couldn’t believe that people that lived so far away would care enough to make this happen,” an IHB statement said.
The programme dealt with empowerment of women in the North East, preparing them for self-income generating activities in the areas of hair care and beauty. Without the participation of women in the development process, society as a whole cannot be said to develop sufficiently.
“We believe in a ‘pass it on’ philosophy where skills’ training is free and available for all who seek it. Many areas where we are working have acute poverty, lack of basic facilities, rampant unemployment where probably the only silver lining is natural beauty of the land they live in. The training underlines the issue of rural women’s empowerment in Sri Lanka, especially for economic development’, noted Ms. Karunaratne.
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