your family update
You Backed them and things began to change
“Sometimes there’s nothing for my child to eat and that sadness is something I carry all the time.”
Chandani and her husband farm when the rains come, growing corn and paddy for their family and selling whatever they can. The growing season comes only once a year, so they take day labour whenever it’s available to help cover the months in between.
Before they can sell a harvest, they have already borrowed money for seeds, fertiliser, medicine and tilling the land. Once the harvest is sells, those debts must be repaid. “After we pay off all our debts, nothing is left. Some days we only eat two meals. It’s very hard to live,” Chandani says.
When their money run out, sometimes family members who also farm bring them food. And even when it comes to buying clothes for the children, it’s difficult to plan for because there is never enough to buy them anything.
Added to that, their home is not a proper place to live in. But building something solid of their own feels out of reach for now.
Even so, Chandani and her husband continue to borrow for the next season and work in the fields, they take whatever day labour they can find and do what they can to keep their child in school. When tuition fees are due, they borrow through a mutual society so the child doesn’t miss out on learning. Their child recently sat the scholarship exam and scored 105 marks. Chandani talks about this with so much joy, it’s something the family is proud of.
Chandani wants to keep supporting the child’s education, build a home of their own one day and reach a point where the family can live well. Until then, she and her husband will keep farming, working when they can and finding ways to manage the debts that take away so much of what they earn.
Your support over the next two years can help Chandani and her husband work towards a more secure future for their child and a more stable home for the family.
