Helping Entrepreneurs

SATVA FUND SRI LANKA

Satva Provides Funds to Women Entrepreneurs Impacted by Cyclone Ditwa

Satva Provides Funds to Women Entrepreneurs Impacted by Cyclone Ditwa

In January 2026, Satva Fund Sri Lanka collaborated with Zonta Club II of Colombo to help rebuild the lives of several women entrepreneurs running small businesses affected by Cyclone Ditwa. As noted by Zonta Club II of Colombo, “because of Satva’s support, we have been able to help women who lost everything begin again — rebuilding their livelihoods, restoring dignity, and finding hope after devastation.” Specifically, funds from Satva were provided to assist the following four women entrepreneurs:

Thushari from Gali Oya operates a small home-based restaurant serving freshly-prepared meals from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. She draws her customer base from nearby schools and tuition classes. Cyclone Ditwa devastated her restaurant; when the roof collapsed, most of her furniture, utensils and equipment were destroyed. Thushari is the sole breadwinner in her family since her husband is stricken with leukemia; they also have three school-age children. With the financial support from Satva, Thushari was able to restore the premises and resume operations, helping her rebuild her livelihood and ensure continued financial stability for her family.
Harshi from Gampola is a batik entrepreneur, operating a batik manufacturing enterprise that includes production, workshops for visitors and direct sales. She is a national award-winning artisan, recognized for the quality and creativity of her products, which include book covers, cloth toys, calendars, and other handcrafted items. Cyclone Ditwa completely destroyed her batik workshop and she lost essential equipment, fabric stock, dyes, chemicals, and other materials required for production. The timely financial assistance from Satva also helped Harshi replace essential equipment and materials and fully resume batik production and restart her tourist workshops.

Nishani runs a Stationery Shop and Communication Centre in Gelioya. Operating this facility for the past 15 years, Nishani expanded the business to include a communication center, providing photocopying and related services. Her shop supplies school stationery, paper products, children’s books and light reading materials. Cyclone Ditwa totally destroyed her shop’s stock and equipment and left her without inventory and without the tools required to continue normal operations. As a result of the Satva grant, Nishani was able to replenish essential shop inventory, restock core stationery items, rebuild her business operations and restore stable income for her dependent family members.

Before

After

Renuka is an entrepreneur involved in the cultivation and manufacture of high-quality vanilla products as well as breeding bees for honey production. Renuka cultivates about 600 vanilla plants on her ¾ acre property. In terms of the honey production, she sources bee cones from the surrounding areas and sells her pure honey at two retail outlets under the brand name Real Kandyan. Unfortunately, Cyclone Ditwa destroyed some of the vanilla plants and her stocks of honey. The grant provided by Satva assisted her to restore and resume operations with both vanilla and honey stocks.