Pamela was co-hosting a fundraising dedication show at a Sri Lanka radio station, when one of the most destructive events of our time occurred. A Tsunami devastated much of Sri Lanka leaving thousands dead and many more homeless and without hope.
Within hours Pamela and Jerry were in their small office suspending all business and due to the tremendous response Pam and Jerry’s offices were converted into a collection depot as hundreds of Sri Lankan people and foreigners swarmed in with offers of money or help.
Not being prepared for the overpowering kindness of strangers, cash donors were turned away with a hastily typed shopping list of urgent requirements ranging from basic food, dry rations, baby formula and water, to materials to build shelters, blankets, clothing, re-hydrating salts and the urgent medical aid essential for many people’s survival.
Overwhelmingly, many returned time and time again from the local supermarkets and shops with arms full of provisions, foreigners alongside Sri Lankans, spending their salaries and emptying their houses and hotel rooms in a desperate attempt to help. Many offered their skills and talents and in some cases, just a pair of hands. Within a few days a database had been built of over 360 willing volunteers of all nationalities and Pamela with her husband Jerry quickly developed The IMPAKTaid Trust, a registered Sri Lankan charity.
Pamela, Jerry and their teams of volunteers continued to run IMPAKTaid and began a number of long term projects including building latrines within camps to minimize risk of disease, returning displaced children to school with the necessary uniforms and workbooks they require, building a boys home for orphans, creating employment opportunities for young adults by running an employment through english program, creating a trauma relief program for children, building temporary shelters for 98 families.
White Angel
In the midst of this catastrophe Pamela was named Sudu Aspara (White Angel) by the victims of the disaster and was told she is a white woman with a coloured soul. “I took this as one of the greatest compliment I had ever been given.”
Experience
Pamela launched the IMPAKTaid Society of Canada when she returned to Canada. All proceeds from the sales of the Work For Widows products and Pamela's speaking engagements are funnelled back into the IMPAKTaid Society of Canada and dispersed through the Global Women's Empowerment Circle to support the talented artisans in the program and vulnerable women everywhere.
Pamela Porodo is
a champion of women’s
and diversity rights.
What Pamela saw and experienced first hand changed her and the chance meeting with a suicidal pregnant woman who had lost her entire family sparked Pamela to put her entrepreneur experience to work and start the livelihood sustainability program Work For Widows.
The Work for Widows program is a long-term program that provides widowed and abandoned women an ongoing means of subsistence for themselves and their children to become self-sufficient.
Pamela is a dynamic keynote speaker who will energize audience and inspire them to achieve their dreams. She is a strong advocate for women’s empowerment, women entrepreneurship and a global activist. Her areas of expertise include; empowerment and inspiration for personal development, management experience in national and international program development, global non-profit governance and fundraising.
She loves speaking on the basis of empowerment, leadership, and motivation to her audiences all around the globe. Complete the form below to book Pamela as a keynote speaker.