your family update
You Backed them and things began to change
Tali
Donor
“I feel like I don’t have the courage to even talk to others.”
Anushiya is a single mother raising her young daughter, who is in preschool. They live in the Kilinochchi district. Her husband left them. Without land, a house, or a toilet of her own, Anushiya and her daughter live with her parents. Her father has a disability, and her mother is unwell too.
The family has no well, so they walk 2 km every day just to get water. Anushiya works as a daily labourer, but her income isn’t enough to cover what the household needs or to feed four mouths everyday.
Whatever money she makes is almost immediately over when she buys what the family needs and pays off their loans. So she comes home with nothing left over. When something urgent comes up, she would turn to relatives and friends, but she doesn’t always get the help she needs.
Beyond the day-to-day struggle, Anushiya carried real loneliness after her husband left. There were times she didn’t have the desire or courage to even talk to others. But she somehow makes it work. She looks after her ill parents, buys food for the family and sends her daughter to preschool.
Anushiya dreams of starting a small business of her own one day, and she wants a safe, stable home for her daughter. She wants to take care of her parents well and not worry about money anymore. This is the future she imagines for her family.
Please note for many women sharing in written form is not easy. We sit with women to support them to share their story and have added context so you can weave together what you have made possible.
Dear Tali,
I am well. Are you well? I pray to God for you to live well. My name is Anushiya. I live in the Kilinochchi district. In my family, it’s me and my daughter. My daughter is studying in preschool. Because I don’t have a land, house, or toilet, and for my daughter’s safety, we are living with my mother and father. My father is a person with a disability and stays at home, and my mother is also sick. I work in a garment factory. With my income, I manage the household expenses and look after my daughter and my mother and father.
Because my husband abandoned me and my daughter, I faced many mental and social problems and felt the pain of loneliness. For example, I felt like I didn’t have the desire or courage to even talk or interact with others. At that time, my auntie would come and comfort me. At work, I would feel a little bit of comfort.
(At the time we met Anushiya, her family was struggling with the deep poverty and loneliness that followed her husband leaving them. With yours and Palmera’s support, she found the strength to save her own money and start a business, helping her family recover and rebuild their lives.)
At the same time, many village savings groups were operating in our village. My auntie would tell me to go and join a self-help group, but I was unsure about it. I was hesitant to join any group. I didn’t know much about Palmera’s village savings group either. My auntie and neighbours came and told me about how they save money and how they all celebrate each member’s birthday together by cutting a cake. When I heard this, I was surprised and asked, “Do things like this happen in the group?” Seeing all this, I also got interested. I asked them about joining and went to the Mallikai Village Savings Group and joined as a member.
(Palmera established the village bank in her village to develop financial literacy, a place to save and revolve their savings as loans to reduce their debt from predatory lenders. Through the village bank women come together each week to talk, to share what is going on and support each other. This is the foundation for change because change happens in community and that is exactly what these structures support.)
I thank you for the support you have provided. I have joined the Mallikai village savings Group and am saving. Through joining this group, I am feeling many changes. For example, I, who was hesitant to talk to others because of the loss of my husband, feel that it has guided me to interact and talk with everyone. Everyone’s love and their support made me feel that I should continue to be in this group. I used to be hesitant to go to the village development office to get my needs fulfilled. I used to need someone else’s help. Now, because of the rotating leadership system in our group, I have developed the ability to lead and the skill to speak. Feeling that “I can do it,” I now go to the village officer myself, speak about my needs, and get them fulfilled.
I thank you for the help you provided. In the beginning, I would spend all my money for the family’s needs immediately when I earned something and come home empty handed. After joining this group, seeing others save, I realized I should too, and I started saving LKR 50 from my income.
Wanting to increase my savings, every week I increased my savings from LKR 50 to LKR 200, LKR 300, and now up to LKR 500. I have received the LKR 5,000 assistance scheme from group. I used it for poultry farming and to set up a home garden. I used it to buy seedlings, packets of seeds, and chickens. Through this, I bought good chickens, prepared compost, and grew poison-free vegetables, fulfilling my food needs. In addition, I sold the extra eggs, used the money for my expenses, and also saved.
(For food security, Palmera supports women to establish home gardens and small poultry farming. This is becoming more challenging with wild monkeys, limited access to seeds, and increasing pests due to changing climate. Because of these challenges, many do not engage in home gardening and poultry. Through your support, we are changing that, helping families grow their own food and earn an income from what they produce.)
I don’t have any savings to speak of in any bank. In our savings group, I now have savings of LKR 77,600. Thinking about this, I am very happy. In the beginning, if I needed money for an urgent need, I would go to my relatives and friends, but I wouldn’t get it all the time. At such times, I have endured great hardship. But now, to fulfill my immediate needs and to improve my living standards, my Mallikai Group is very helpful, and thinking about this makes me very happy.
In the beginning, I took a loan of LKR 5,000 from my savings group and bought two chickens. After repaying that loan, I again took a loan of LKR 20,000 and bought a bicycle for my daughter. My daughter was very happy, and seeing that, I was also happy. I repaid that loan in a few monthly installments and then took another loan of LKR 45,000 and did repairs on the land and house. I repaid that loan too, and now I have taken a loan of LKR 100,000 and am repaying that loan.
(When Anushiya first came to the programme, basic improvements to how her family lived were out of reach. Through the financial stability she has built, she has been able to invest in the conditions of daily life; safe shelter, clean water, sanitation. These are not things Palmera provided directly. They are what becomes possible when a family has stable income and the confidence to invest in their own future.)
Now, my group has strengthened me and my family to the point where I don’t have to go and ask anyone for financial help, and it has improved my self-confidence. I am very happily improving my livelihood. I am very happy to be a member of this group. Thank you very much for your support.
Thank you,
Anushiya
Our work continues with Anushiya. She has begun the journey to stand on her own, but lasting change takes time. We will walk alongside her for one more year before letting go of her hand. It is this continued accompaniment that makes all the difference. And this is possible because of you. Thank you.
