Our Work With Women In Peril

Circumstance in Sri Lanka can pose dangers for women.  For example, in Sri Lanka the culture is especially hard on women who have lost their husbands.  When a woman’s husband dies, it is considered to be a result of her Karma, and the community regards her as bad luck.  She is immediately shunned from social gatherings: a bride will not even look at a widow for fear of harming her impending wedding.  Having lost the protection of her husband and the support of her community she becomes a target for men who would exploit her.  Many are pulled, for lack of any other option, into the darkness of prostitution.  Other women many become at risk due to abandonment of a husband, poverty, or for other reasons. 

The Esther Centre for women shelters her, teaches her a new vocation to provide for herself and her children, and then relocates her to a new community, near a church center that serves as her protectors and extended family.  The Esther center and sewing school minister to women in peril of Sri Lanka whatever their circumstances.

 

Esther Centre

The Esther Centre for women provides a safe home for both women in peril and their children.  In addition to housing accommodations, the program offers the women counseling, support and various vocational training options that will help them provide for themselves and be free from the predators that seek to take advantage of them.

 

Sewing School

The sewing center is a key component of restoring self worth and dignity to women.  At the center, women are trained as a seamstress, which will provide them with a livelihood. Upon graduation, they are provided with a sewing machine, tools and materials to prosper on their own.