Disna is one of the first Think Pink taxi drivers in Sri Lanka. When Disnas husband was killed in an accident she was left with no income and five daughters to care for. Less than two years ago, she was close to despair. When the police told me my husband was dead I could not believe it. I did not know how I would be able to look after my five girls. I was desperate. This was when I thought it would be better to take my own life. This would have been my destiny if it were not for Project Hope. Disna is one of our first mums to learn to drive through Project Hope and is now providing regular school runs for children which gives her a robust income. As Disna lives in a tourist area, she is attending our free English lessons to be able to offer her taxi to local tourists and increase her earning potential. Disna is a member of one of our savings groups with the other taxi driver mums and now has her first bank account.

For each £3,000 raised we can train six female drivers and purchase a branded, reconditioned tuk tuk. So for our target of £12,000 we can train 18 women!

We train six drivers so that we can allow for drop outs and part share the vehicle in the first instance.

Our driver support is an holistic package so this includes mentoring, practice driving with other female drivers, managing finances, personal safety, digital skills training as well as lessons at a local driving school.

The vehicles are second hand, refurbished, resprayed and branded, taxed and insured.

The drivers rent the vehicles from the charity at a lower market rate and benefit from maintenance, repairs, road tax and insurance being our responsibility.