De NONA Empowerment Aid biedt hulp aan meisjes die op hun 18de levensjaar de opvangtehuizen van de Kinderbescherming moeten verlaten. Deze meisjes werden opgevangen als slachtoffers van seksueel geweld en ook vanwege verwaarlozing, fysieke – of geestelijke mishandeling. Het is voor deze doelgroep moeilijk om een bestaan op te bouwen in de samenleving. Omdat zij verstoten zijn door hun omgeving kunnen zij niet altijd de start maken waar zij recht op hebben. Ook worden zij niet altijd toegelaten tot de middelen die zij nodig hebben om een gezonde en gelukkige toekomst op te kunnen bouwen. NONA Foundation helpt hen een eigen onderneming op te zetten door een soort microkrediet te verstrekken, zodat zij op den duur onafhankelijk en zelfredzaam zullen zijn en op deze manier zelfrespect en geloof in de samenleving hervinden. Per meisje wordt gekeken naar haar talenten en potenties, zodat zij bijvoorbeeld een eigen naaiatelier beginnen, een winkeltje starten of een stukje land kan gaan leren verbouwen. NONA Lanka houdt permanent toezicht op de ontwikkelingen van de meisjes en biedt ieder meisje passende begeleiding.

De werkwijze

NONA Foundation receives data from the Sri Lankan authorities and local organizations about girls who have left the Sri Lankan care homes after turning 18 and returned to society. NONA Lanka visits these young women and investigates whether there is a need for NONA Empowerment Aid. If this turns out to be the case, a business plan is created in collaboration with the girl to maximize the chances of success. This business plan describes in detail how she wants to invest the money and how and when this investment can become a source of income, so that our principles of independence and self-reliance are realized. If the business plan is approved by a special committee, the first part of the NONA Empowerment Aid will be transferred and the plan can be implemented under the guidance and supervision of NONA Lanka. After each completed phase (stated in the business plan), NONA Foundation will pay out part of the loan. Even after the completion of its own company, NONA Lanka continues to monitor these girls to ensure their well-being and guarantee the functioning of their company.

NONA Foundation has created the “Rizana Empowerment Aid” as an extension of the NONA Empowerment Aid. Rizana Empowerment Aid has the same principle as the NONA Empowerment Aid but offers specific help to girls and women in Sri Lanka who want to flee Sri Lanka out of desperation because of poverty, to earn money in the Middle East.

RIZANA EMPOWERMENT AID

Rizana Empowerment Aid is based on and named after the story of Rizana Nafeek. She spent eight years innocently on death row in Saudi Arabia for false accusations by a Saudi family. Broken physically and mentally, she was publicly beheaded in January 2013. She was not even 25 years old. Because an awful amount of Sri Lankan women work as domestic helpers in the Middle East and the vast majority of these women are systematically raped, abused and tortured and a small percentage even die from this situation, NONA Foundation wants to prevent Sri Lankan girls and women from entering this country.

By means of a micro credit, they can stay with their families in Sri Lanka to start a business in their own area and earn their money. This group of women is also provided by NONA Lanka with advice and guidance so that they can achieve their business goals as optimally as possible. With the Rizana Empowerment Aid, mothers can stay with their children, daughters can stay with their parents and fight against poverty because their own company has a positive influence on their immediate environment.