Shilpa is located within Narahenpita, one of Colombo’s largest slums. The majority of children here leave school before the age of 14 to support their families by either starting work or carrying out domestic duties. Women and girls are often confined to their homes caring for parents, younger siblings or their own children, severing them from any income-generating opportunities.
Shilpa Development Centre, established in 2001, offers them a lifeline, providing a range of invaluable vocational training courses to unemployed and unskilled men and women, particularly single mothers living in the slum communities, as well as older girls from Shilpa Child Protection Centre. The centre provides training linked to viable local income generating opportunities, such as tailoring, cookery and IT, and having been awarded official approval from the Tertiary and Vocational Educational Commission of Sri Lanka, it can now issue nationally recognised certificates of vocational training.
“I am now earning a livelihood by staying at home and putting the knowledge I learned into good use.” Gayesha, aged 50
At the request of the District Secretariat in Colombo, Shilpa also established a programme in Welikada Prison, which offers training in cookery, crochet and hand embroidery to up to 50 female inmates. This training not only provides the women with skills they can use once released, but also helps in the rehabilitation process by enabling them to develop transferable life skills, confidence and self-esteem.
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