Catie - Trek to Tackle Poverty In Sri Lanka

I just wanted to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has made a donation so far. I am overwhelmed by your support and greatly appreciate your well wishes. Please continue to share this with your friends and family and invite them to make a donation as well!

By Catie Rizio @ 15 June 2019

Hello! I thought I would give you a little bit more information about the SUNRISE project which is the focus of my trip to Sri Lanka and will be where my fundraising is directed. The Sunrise project is an acronym for sustaining and nurturing rural agro-industrial social enterprises, ultimately it works towards strengthening women's economic empowerment through social enterprises in spices, fruits, vegetables and handlooms in developing countries. Unfortunately, inequality and discrimination are widespread in Sri Lanka and many people live below the poverty line, facing ever increasing prices on food and essential needs. With the project, Oxfam hopes to tackle even just a small part of this by providing women with opportunities they wouldn’t otherwise have. The SUNRISE project currently takes place in Kegalle, Batticaloa and Vavuniya where women with existing skills are offered funding, and the necessary resources and training to expand their ideas into flourishing businesses. These businesses then provide them and their families a stable income from which to grow and flourish. Since the beginning of the project in 2015, 6 partnerships have been formed, some reaching into international ventures. I particularly love this project because it works with people not for them. Oxfam partners with people in their home towns who express interest in building their own business, valuing their individual voice and providing the right training to assist people in lifting themselves out of poverty. The project aims to provide income to those within and enhance their future employment opportunities as they gather a host of important skills in the creative process and learning to run a small business. Additionally, the project strengthens value chains and addresses the gender imbalances within the community by allowing women to act against poverty. Together with a group of other individuals who are also raising money for the Sunrise project, Oxfam is hoping to contribute $10,000 to the Sunrise project which will be allocated to providing assistance, training and support as well as expand the campaign to include more people. Donations exceeding this goal will go into Oxfam’s untied donations fund which allows them to help in emergency situations. No hard feelings if you're not in the mood to donate, but I appreciate you reading this nonetheless! I'll be posting a bit more on this page, about why i'm doing this and such so keep an eye out!

By Catie Rizio @ 25 May 2019