In Sri Lanka, mothers of children with disabilities are usually limited to the role of caregiver, which severely limits the household's ability to earn much-needed income. Strong families with adequate resources can provide their children with needed support and thus keep them out of institutions. This project aims to employ such mothers by providing them with the training and resources necessary to create re-usable grocery bags to replace single-use plastic bags.
Mothers, especially single moms, are deprived of employment opportunities by their caregiving responsibilities for their disabled child who then becomes a greater burden to the family and more likely to be institutionalized. Also, many low-income families need two incomes to provide essentials like milk and fish, needed by growing children. Single-use plastics are a major environmental issue, choking our waterways, damaging plants and wildlife. Sri Lanka sadly is a major polluter in Asia.
Our project will address both issues. Providing employment and child care on site will enable and empower mothers. Too often such families are headed by single mothers, enhancing income for the family will alleviate pressing problems e.g lack of nutritious meals. Children with disabilities thrive more within their families rather than institutions. Society benefits by not having to bear the cost of institutional care for its disabled citizens. This project will also reduce single-use plastics.
This project will have long-term impacts on the economic, physical and psychological health of the families you help. We expect the economic stability of the family to improve due to better income. We expect family relationships to become stronger as the disabled child will not be seen as a burden but a positive addition to the family. We also, expect to reduce the use of plastic grocery bags and create an environmentally responsible culture. We plan to expand beyond the first 6 mothers.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
