Officially opened in 2005 by Dr. Peter Frost (from Victoria), the Handicraft Centre in Seenigama was established to showcase the magnificent talent of the village women in the community, but more importantly to empower the village women by providing them with a means of livelihood. With crafts including woven mats, woven hats, woven bags, batik wallhangings, woven boxes, wooden carvings, painted carvings, hand-dyed clothes and more, the Handricraft Centre offers a range of beautiful locally produced handicrafts to choose from.

The Handicraft Centre is situated in the grounds of the Foundation's Relief Secreteriat in Seenigama. Originally, it was hoped that visitors to the village would discover the Centre and purchase the crafts. Breaking even in May 2006, the Centre is now making a profit, albeit a rather small one. It is currently planned to move the Handicraft Centre to the main road that runs through the area (Galle Road), as part of the proposed Beach Park, which is due to include a Beach Volleyball area, a small food store, an eating area and small park. In this way, the goal is to entice more customers to the Handicraft Centre by situating it at the Beach Park, where many travellers (both local and foreign) will stop to rest, eat, and shop.

Through increased profits, we hope to expand the Centre and range of handicrafts on offer. In turn, this will provide more village women with a means of income which will improve the opportunities and increase the prosperity of the region.

To view some of the beautiful handicrafts available for purchase at the Centre, please click here.

Due to popular demand, an additional future plan is to export these beautiful handicrafts overseas to our foreign supporters. For those who would be interested in purchasing our handicrafts from abroad or assisting with the establishment of such a system, please contact us.