The women of Halmillawe Diriyen Idiriyata society who were trained in fabric painting under the patronage of John Keells Foundation held an exhibition of their creations on Saturday, 13th October 2010 at the Halmillawe temple premises. John Keells was represented at the exhibition by staff of Cinnamon Lodge, Mr. Robert Gunarathna and Mr. Ruwan. At a meeting held thereafter, ideas were exchanged about the benefits of the training and market opportunities for finished products. The women are keen to pursue an apparel enterprise based on the growing demand in the area and Cinnamon Lodge is exploring means of supporting this fledgling enterprise.

Halmillawe was the first village to be developed under the Foundation’s Village Adoption Project. Under this 5-year project, many aspects of the village – which is mostly dependant on agriculture – were developed including irrigational infrastructure, village school and pre-school infrastructure and facilities, alternative power sources and, entrepreneurship development initiatives.

One of the main highlights of the project was the establishment of the women’s society Diriyen Idiriyata, and the initiatives undertaken through the society. A village-based savings scheme as well as income generation initiatives such as mushroom cultivation, sewing and, most recently, fabric painting have been successful in empowering and incentivizing the membership towards financial independence.

Since the completion of the Village Adoption Project – Halmillawe by the Foundation in March 2010, Cinnamon Lodge has been supporting the villagers towards ensuring the sustainability and progress of the development activity undertaken in the village.