STAND, EARN AND LEARN

“Somedays we eat only once.”

Yogamma lives in the East of Sri Lanka with her husband and 24-year-old daughter. Their house is unfinished, work is irregular, and some days they eat only once. She does wage work to provide food, repay debt, and hopes to finish the unfinished house and get her daughter married to someone who can give her a better life.

“When it rains, the roof leaks so badly that we can’t stay in our house”

Gopika lives in Batticaloa with her husband and 4-year-old son. Her husband does all kinds of wage work, but last month they had no income, and when it rains there is no work. Food is sometimes hard to get, and they still have some debt. Gopika cares for their son while they work little by little to finish their house and support his future.

“I have been living in this small temporary shelter since I was born. Now I am 30 years old.”

Annitta has never known anything else. The shelter lets in heat and offers little when rain comes. Her husband had an accident, three months in hospital, no savings. They borrowed to get ahead and were cheated. That debt is still there. A real home is all she wants for her kids.

“My child should not suffer any of the hardships I have suffered. She should be well in the place where I left off.”

Dharmini never finished school, the conflict took that from her. This month her husband had three days of work which means they have to borrow for food. Today is Vidhuja’s birthday and all they could manage was a few chocolates to share with her friends

 “We haven’t cooked today. There is nothing to cook with and the whole family is sick.”

Pushpavathi lives with her husband and 2 sons. She makes vadai to bring in income. But now her asthma and fever have stopped it completely. Her husband cannot do heavy labour due to a leg injury, so they have nothing. She wants to get back to work as soon as she can, so they have food on the table.

“Our house is broken, and we are just managing with what we have.”

Kajawathani, 22, lives with her husband and 3-year-old daughter. Her husband does any work he can find, and she is trying to find a job too. Their house needs repairs, and money is tight, but she saves carefully, plans ahead, and hopes to study more, work steadily, and slowly fix their home.

 “My children aren’t in school right now. We had to pull them out because we didn’t have enough money.”

Pushparani lives with her husband and children, running the house on his seasonal stone-loading work, that stops entirely off-season. With school costs adding up, they made the hard call to pull the kids out. But she hopes to see them go back and educated, with a home of their own.

“Some days we don’t even have enough to eat.”

Amutha, 44, lives with her husband, daughter and mother in Sri Lanka’s East. Her husband’s daily wage is not enough, so they buy food on credit to repay when they can. Debt keeps growing. She missed school but pushes her child in Grade 8 to continue. They live in a small house without electricity and hope for a steady life without debt.

“My children’s education will change our life.”

Uthayanithy said “I didn’t cook yesterday.”  Her husband hurt his leg and brings home 4000 rupees a week for a family of five. When it rains the roof leaks so badly they have to leave their home. They were cheated out of money they borrowed and had to sell their land. That debt is still sitting heavily over their whole life.

“He drank and hit me and the children. I suffered for ten years, crawling, injured, with no food.”

Damayanthi lives in a village in the East of Sri Lanka with her two children. She does wage labour to pay for their food, the bills and the children’s education. For years she and kids were beaten by her ex-husband who drank a lot.  Now she is in debt. Their house floods when it rains. She wants her children to study, grow up safely, and have jobs.

“Once when sewage water came into house during the rains, everyone got fever, even the baby got very sick.”

Sumirtha lives in a village in Sri Lanka’s East with her husband and four children. Her husband works irregularly as a fisherman. She cares for the children, manages loans, and keeps the family fed. She hopes to start a small business, keep her children in school, and build a safe home for them.

“We have no toilet so there’s no choice. If there’s a need, we dig a hole in the ground.”

Kanmani lives in a small home in Sri Lanka’s East with her husband and 16-year-old son. Her husband does daily wage work, but income is irregular. They borrow or take loans to cover food, bills, and school. They dig a hole to use as a toilet. They keep working so their son can go to school.

“I’m 61, one woman carrying all the load. And feeding my husband with a spoon for 11 years.” 

Shanthini has been managing the household since her husband’s spinal operation left him unable to work 11 years ago. She does whatever work she can find, but it’s never steady. The family still runs into debt. She hopes to grow food on their own land and see her daughter settled one day. 

“After my husband’s leg injury, it is hard for him to stand or walk for long hours during work.”

Ravitha, 27, lives with her youngest child while her husband works away. He earns little, and Ravitha does small jobs to cover food and clothes. They sometimes borrow to make ends meet. Their home has cracks, and daily life is a struggle, but she keeps her child fed, in school, and cared for.

“My child was in hospital and my husband didn’t have work. It was very difficult for us.”

Thanushiya lives with her husband, mother and young child. Her husband’s daily wage work is not steady, so some days there is no income. They borrow, take food on credit to repay when money comes. Even small needs are hard. Still, she keeps her child in school and manages the home with care.

 “A single hospital visit costs me what we earn in a month.”

Kalathevi lives with her husband, a daughter and grandchild. She has been the main earner for years, selling string hoppers. But a long-term illness means even one hospital visit costs her roughly a month’s earnings. She manages carefully, keeping dry goods on hand. And she hopes each day that there will be food for the next.

“There were days when we’ll be lying down in hunger, without food, and nobody was there to see if we were dead or alive”

Indumathi lives in Kadpanikulam with her son, 19, and daughter, 17. Her husband left when her daughter was a baby. She works daily to buy food, raises a few goats, and keeps her children in school, helping them finish courses, find jobs and build a better future.

“I do any work, anything to earn some money for us to buy some rice so that we can eat.”

Sivamalar does daily labour; churning butter, building bundts, making bags, to buy food for her family. At home, she cares for 2 daughters who haven’t been able to walk since 5. Her house was destroyed by an elephant and never rebuilt. But she hopes for a time when they are healthy and well.

“We live in a leaf thatched hut, but if we had tin sheets over it, it wouldn’t leak in the rain or blow away when it’s windy.”

Vaani lives with her husband and 4 year-old. Her husband works when he can, but his heart problem limits him. She can’t work now because she’s pregnant. They try to eat 2 meals. She hopes her son studies well and gets a steady job while they build a safe home.

“The money we spent to send my husband abroad is still a debt we’re paying off.” 

Nalini lives with her three daughters while her husband has left for work abroad. They all share one room and a kitchen, and debt from sending him overseas keeps pressing on her. She talks to teachers herself to keep her eldest in class. She hopes to clear their debts and have a place where her girls can grow up with some stability. 

 “Even in my childhood, when my father was sick, we struggled for everything, even to eat.”

Ajantha lives with her husband and 7-month-old son in the East of Sri Lanka. Her husband does daily labor, but work stops during the rains. Ajantha stays home to look after the baby. They are saving to build a safe house and want to give their son a good education to support his future.

“My husband left us after the baby was born and I had to keep her in this shed without a fan or electricity.”

Niranjini, 27, lives with her two daughters in a small shed. Her husband left them, and her mother helps with food. She plans to start work soon, manages debts and dreams of building a simple two-room home while making sure her children go to school and learn like other kids.

“We gave the shed to our daughter and we lived in a chicken cage for two years. We didn’t have any other option at that time.”
Minnoly is 55 raising her two grandsons after their parents remarried and left
them behind. She and her husband are at an age where most are looked after, but they are still doing seasonal labour just to keep food on the table and boys in school.

“Holding my mother’s hand to the neighbor’s toilet is hard, everything is difficult for her.”

Vigneshwari lives in a small shed in the East of Sri Lanka with her 80-year-old mother. Her husband died ten years ago. She mostly relies on a small allowance to cover food, electricity, and water. Every month she buys groceries and stretches every rupee to make sure they have enough to eat.

“He used to come home drunk and beat me, so I took the kids and left. Now I raise them alone by myself.”

Chandra is a 47-year-old single mother raising her youngest daughter alone after leaving an abusive marriage. She works long days doing domestic labour, grinding flour, and selling food, but it’s still not enough. Some days she borrows just to feed them. She keeps going, hoping to build a home and secure a safer future for her child.

“I have suffered all my life, and even after I got married, it’s been difficult. Because he drinks, it’s always difficult.”

Kayalini lives with her husband and two young children. Work is irregular, food is sometimes short, and their house leaks when it rains. She manages debts, takes care of the children, and hopes to build a safe home and give them a chance at school and good jobs.

“My parents committed suicide when I was a teenager and I had to get married 8 days later because we didn’t have money for me to stay home or finish school.”

Sasitha, cares for her daughters and grandmother while her husband works far away. She stretches their income, buys food on credit and keeps the children in school. Her dream is to feed her family without borrowing and give her kids a steady future.

“I’m paying for everything, taking loans, begging here and there, and still can’t meet all needs.”

Vijayasundari, 77, lives in Sri Lanka’s East with her daughter and husband. Her husband is too old to work so she works the land, grinds paddy and manages debts. They lost most of their assets over the years, but she keeps going so her daughter can finish college and have a better future.

“We don’t want great comforts; just a house and living without debt is enough.”

Sivarani lives in Eastern Sri Lanka with her two children and husband. She works in town a few days a week while her husband does daily wage work when he can. They grow crops and keep chickens to help with a little extra income. She wants a simple house and for her children to study well, and have steady jobs.

 “My husband and I work the whole day in the forest cutting and collecting firewood just to make 3000 rupees.”

Nageshwary, 53, cares for her grandchildren while helping her husband collect firewood. Money is tight, and she uses loans to plant crops. She works hard so the family can eat and the children can go to school. She hopes to build a house and farm steadily with support.