Think pink Sri Lanka - women driving for women

Over the past year, our ground breaking 'Think Pink' project in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka has been successfully trained 6 single mums in tuk tuk driving, enabling them to generate a sustainable income to keep their families together while providing a safe taxi service for women and children. 

Thanks to your continued support and donations, over 900 women and children can now benefit from personal safety on transport every week, challenging the fact that over 90% of women have experienced sexual harassment on buses and trains in Sri Lanka.

Your generous donations have so far contributed to  full driver training costs for 6 single mums, as well as support to launch and develop their taxi businesses. All 6 mums are now earning a sustainable income, ensuring they can provide for their families to eliminate the risk of child abandonment. You have provided a hand up to enable single-mums in crisis to lift their families out of poverty.

Think Pink is also challenging cultural barriers, by giving women the opportunity to occupy a role usually considered 'men's work', helping to reduce inequalities in women's participation in the labour force.

Due to the success of the scheme so far, demands for more mothers to participate in tuk tuk driver training have dramtically increased and there is a waiting list of mums wanting to learn. With the heightened demand for Tuk-Tuks,  three new personal and corporate major donors have generously donated three new Tuk-Tuks to enable more women drivers to learn and start earning an income. These tuk-tuks are due to be launched onto the road in January 2019.

We still need your support to cover the costs of training and business development for new single-mum drivers, who without your support, would not be able to cover the training fees. 

Without your support, all 'Think Pink'   has achieved so far would not have been possible. So, once again we would like to say a huge thank you! We will continue to keep you updated on the development of the project, as more mums successfully complete their training and launch their businesses on the road!

Links:

• Think Pink Sri Lanka

Over the last few months, our 'Think Pink Sri Lanka-Women Driving for Women' initiative across the Southern Province of Sri Lanka has taken off dramatically. The key tenant of the project is to help train single parent mothers living in poverty in tuk tuk driving so they can begin generating a sustainable income to support their families alongside offering trouble free journey's to other women.

Before being enrolled onto the initiative, many mothers find themselves in desperate situations at risk of separating from their children. Dilta, (pictured above) was abandoned by her husband which left her unable to provide for her children. Dilta was found living on the street, close to a local market place by one of the project's community workers. Dilta has been supported with her food, medical, educational and rent costs and her family's situation has stabilised. 

In the last few weeks, thanks to your donations, Dilta has taken up tuk tuk driving. She has undergone training, passed her test and is now beginning to generate an income to support her family. Her progress has been so swift, she has established a business and has developed a routine where she offers mothers and children lifts to and from school during the week. 

The income Dilta has begun generating from tuk tuk driving has also has a beneficial impact on her children, who are now performing better in school and have a much happier outlook on life thanks to the sterling efforts of their mother. 

Once again, a huge thank you for your support! We could not have done it without you!