Buttala Sri Lanka (Commonwealth Union)_In the rural environs of a village in the Uva province of Sri Lanka is a woman who is known as, ‘The lady who makes brooms’. It sounds pretty ordinary but what is extraordinary is that entrepreneur Disna Ranjani is a person with a disability; she was born with a lifeless leg. Throughout her life she endured derogatory name calling; being abjectly poor didn’t help. She was financially dependent on her family first and once married, her husband, who earned a paltry salary, insufficient even to cover the family’s meals.
Not willing to live in such dire poverty, she decided to clean ekels (the middle stick found in coconut palm fronds) and sell them to carousing trucks which collected these to make ekel brooms, which are used to sweep gardens. However, being a woman and one with a disability, the truck drivers cheated her, not paying the promised amount and under-weighing her collection.
Deciding she was master of her destiny, Disna decided to make ekel brooms herself although not having any inkling about the craft. She went to the store, bought one and took it apart. She produced five ekel brooms and sold it to her neighbours, below market price.
“I knew nothing; all I knew was that I had to learn it. That’s when I took the broom apart and copied the process. I went to an organisation in our area that assists persons with disabilities. But when I told them what I wanted to do, they offered to train my husband instead, saying I wouldn’t be able to make the brooms due to my disability. I said ‘no,’ that I would learn. The first day, I made 10 ekel brooms. I’ve mastered the art. I know my ekel brooms are of the best quality.”
That was the start of Lakmuthu Products, which today supplies ekel brooms to almost the entirety of the Moneragala district.
Disna rides a bicycle and a scooter which she uses to deliver her goods and can even drive heavy vehicles. She has built a house for herself and educated her children. With the help of not-for-profit Chrysalis, she purchased machinery to produce brooms, which she uses great adeptness for a high quality finished product.
But that’s not all. Disna has an entire community supplying ekels for her business, has instilled good environmental practices into the community and has spurred senior citizens to supply her with ekels and discarded cans so they gain an additional income which they are very grateful to her. And she pays them above market price.
“To me, just growing the business is not enough. I want to build up this community. In the last few years, we have had a dengue epidemic in this village because people throw cans, bottles, and garbage everywhere. I personally went around to each house and asked them to collect all their cans and bring them to me, for which I would pay. It is these cans that I cut, mould, and fit the ekels in to make the broom fan.”
When the villagers bring her cans, Disna discusses the importance of disposing garbage properly because it will protect the village from dengue. “If you go around our village now, there’s no garbage and about 200 families live off the income they get by collecting cans for me.”
Very proud of her achievements, Disna says, “It was my disability that pushed me to become what I am today. If I had resigned myself to the taunts and simply lived off of what my husband brought home, I would never have come this far. I don’t take any handouts or charity from the Government or other places because I don’t need it. I’m not in debt to my country in any way. Instead, I am contributing to its development through my business.”
Very inspiringly she says, “I decided to make my disability an accessory and not a source of shame. Had I not done this, and had I not had the determination to succeed and to rise above everything, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”
