Women making waves in local industry

• With determination, detergent and the support of the ILO, a group of women-headed households have gained social and economic power

ILO (Puthukudiyiruppu): Krishnakumar Jeyaranjini moved around constantly during the 26-year-long Sri Lankan conflict.

She suffered the pain of displacement and separation from her loved ones. Then, in 2013 she lost her husband, and found herself responsible for supporting their three children.

The 49-year-old tried many jobs to make ends meet, including working in a pharmacy as a saleswoman, home gardening, farming and other small-scale enterprises. But the return did not cover her daily household expenses, the needs of her children and their education. 

“After the conflict ended, we came back to our original home in 2012. We needed money to rebuild our lives, but nobody was willing to offer us credit,” said Jeyaranjini. 

Her problems drove Jeyaranjini to form a group with 14 other women. They named it ‘Uthaysooriyan’ (Morning Sun). The group collected Rs. 100 from each member and, meeting monthly, used the fund to give financial assistance to whichever member needed it. 

This initial step led them to develop a co-operative which grew into the Puthukkudiyiruppu Women Entrepreneurs’ Cooperative Society (PTK Cooperative), the only female cooperative society in the north-eastern town.

Jeyaranjini also joined skills training classes organised by the Sri Lankan Government’s Vidatha Resource Centre, where she learned how to make detergent powder. With a subsidy from the PTK Cooperative and help from local NGOs, she bought materials and a grinding machine and set up as a detergent producer.  

The International Labour Organization (ILO) worked closely with the women’s group from the beginning, helping to expand its membership to 80 people and linking them with other social enterprises. With help from the ILO’s ‘Local Empowerment through Economic Development’ (LEED) project, Uthaysooriyan was registered as a cooperative. 

Currently the World Food Programme (WFP) and the ILO are implementing the EMPOWER project with the PTK Cooperative, and Jeyaranjini has been appointed a Community Mobiliser. 

Women-headed households break the barriers

Sri Lanka’s internal conflict left thousands of families like Jeyaranjini’s as women-headed households. They face numerous difficulties.

Jeyaranjini recalled the apprehension and discomfort she experienced when explaining her business idea to her family and others. 

“When I started there were hardly any women entrepreneurs as it was a male-dominated environment. I faced lot of criticism and lot of people tried to ensure that I failed,” said Jeyaranjini. “Happily, things are changing now.” 

Through determination and support from other women-headed households, Jeyaranjini has expanded her small-scale business. She owns a small grinding mill. Her products now include detergent, homemade pickles, dried chilli powder and rice flour. Using her bicycle she sells her produce to surrounding communities. 

Jeyaranjini is also planning for the future. Her plans include finding more market opportunities and getting valid certification for her products.

“I am planning to turn the grinding mill into a large-scale business. And I wish to do the same for my detergent powder. I hope I will be able to access good markets,” said Jeyaranjini.

“Often the words ‘woman’ and ‘detergent’ bring out gendered images of a woman washing clothes at home, not of a woman owning or running a successful detergent-producing enterprise,” said Simrin Singh, Director of the ILO Country Office for Sri Lanka. “It is stories of our work empowering women like Jeyaranjini, building block by block, that are the essential inspiration so many other women in this country could use to break the barriers to their empowerment.”  

Social and economic empowerment

Jeyaranjini has also played roles in other women’s groups in her village, Kaively, outside Puthukudiyiruppu. She was the founder-President of the Puthukkudiyiruppu Women Cooperative Society and is a member of the Women’s Rural Development Society, the Self-Employment Women’s Society, and a number of other village-level women’s societies. She has undergone a number of leadership and gender-based trainings. 

Alongside these commitments she still handles the responsibilities associated with being a single mother of three children. “I am a proud mother. My elder daughter is married and working in a private company, and the two boys are still schooling. My second son is very good at sports, with many gold medals in football and high jump. I want them to be achievers, and to be able to stand on their own feet.

“I am really happy to see the Cooperative’s development, and really thankful to the ILO for their support. Both the trainings and financial assistance have helped me climb my own business ladder. When you come again, you will see a big factory owned by my detergent company,” she says.