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At the age of 40, Jayasiley was no stranger to hunger,
crushing poverty or the desperation of trying to raise two
children on the meager wages she occasionally earned in the
local rice patties. In late 2004, when the tsunami struck
her village, the local paddies were destroyed leaving her
without any means of feeding her family.
Jayasiley was without work for almost a year.
Then friends told her about the masonry instruction program
at the Manpower Vocational Training Center. She admits that
she initially enrolled only to take advantage of the free
lunches that the Center provided during the training. However,
the training provided to be truly life changing. Within days
after her training was completed she was offered a job making
decorative masonry.
According to Jayasiley, "I was overjoyed. This regular
income has brought tremendous happiness to my family. I am
now able to buy things for my children that I have not bought
for many years. Without this new skill, my family would probably
have remained poor forever."
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