your family update
You Backed them and things began to change
Briththa Seevaratnam
Donor
When we met Chandradevi, she was quiet, but her eyes spoke volumes—carrying the weight of pain and loss that words could never fully capture. The lines on her face told the story of years spent fighting to survive amid hardship and uncertainty.
Chandradevi lives in a small village where her family was resettled after the war in 2009. Since that time, life has been a relentless struggle. Her husband suffers from heart disease and is too weak to work, leaving the family without a steady income. One of her sons, still young but forced to grow up fast, has taken on the heavy responsibility of earning daily wages. His small earnings are all they have to buy food and medicine for the family—but no matter how hard he works, it’s never enough to meet their needs.
Chandradevi herself carries invisible wounds that run deep. She suffers from constant, pounding headaches—a painful reminder of the trauma she endured during the war. On top of that, her eyesight is failing, making every day’s tasks harder and more exhausting. But despite the physical and emotional weight she bears, Chandradevi pushes forward with quiet courage and unshakable strength.
There is no bitterness in her voice, only a fragile hope—a hope that one day her family will live without the constant fear of hunger or illness. A hope that they will find the chance to breathe freely, to live with dignity, and to dream again. It is this hope that keeps her going, day after day, despite the hardships that surround her.
We’ve captured their voice so you can hear their story.
I am Chandradevi Rajagopal. We live in Manikkapuram (village name). I have two children. I live with my husband. He is ill, and my mother is 85 years old, and she lives with me. I am also taking care of my mother. I also have a visual impairment.
(Palmera established a village bank in our community to develop financial literacy—a place where we could save and access loans to reduce our debt from predatory lenders).
The Palmera team came to this village and established a women village bank for us and invited us as women to join a Palmera village bank to save. Earlier I did not have any savings in the bank. But now I go to the village bank meeting every Sunday and save 100 to 150 LKR (approx. $0.75 AUD). We are now doing fruit and vegetable cultivation. We were given seeds by Palmera. Since we are doing fruit and vegetable cultivation, we do not buy vegetables from the shop. We take those vegetables, cook them, and eat them. We sell the excess vegetables to the shop. We use that money and buy some fish to cook. Palmera gave us peanut seeds through the village bank. I had cultivated them on 1/4 acre of land initially. I have repeated that cultivation and am now doing it on 1 acre. I am saving the profit from those peanuts and taking care of the expenses. I am getting more income from peanuts.
Now I have been selected as a dairy beneficiary. I have set up a cow shed (with Palmera support). I am happy that I will be provided with a cow continuously. I can take milk from it and sell it and meet my household needs and continue to eat happily. When more profits come from it. I am ready to continue saving.
Mother, this help was given to you by Brinda Seevaratnam. What do you want to say to her?
I do not know the daughter who helped me. A generous, anonymous supporter has made this possible. I pray that God blesses them and that their family will be a blessing. I express my heartfelt gratitude to them—this is my sincere wish.
