your family update
You Backed them and things began to change
When illness comes and things become difficult, that’s when I feel the deepest sadness.
Chandralatha lives with her husband and two sons in Badulla. Their life is shaped by something they have very little control over: whether the rain comes.
Her husband farms gingelly, vegetables and paddy, but they can only cultivate when there is enough water. For around six months of the year farming is possible. When the rains stop, so does their main source of income. Right now, there is no water and they aren’t farming.
During these months, Chandralatha and her family go into the jungle to collect resin and gum to sell. It brings in around 1,000 to 1,500, (that’s just 5-6 AUD) and they stretch it as far as they can.
They cook twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. Two meals is all they can have right now.
There isn’t really anyone they can turn to when things become difficult. Their relatives are also poor, and those families have their own expenses to manage. Chandralatha’s youngest son is seven and in Grade 1, and even meeting his school costs can be difficult.
What worries Chandralatha most though is when he gets sick. He has recurring problems with his stomach, fever and vomiting. When it becomes bad, they have to travel to the closest town for treatment, because they can’t afford to pay for doctors that live close by. But finding the money even to visit the state hospital is difficult.
When his illness becomes worse, resting at home doesn’t offer him much comfort either. Their home is made from mud and thatch and is hard to live in. Chandralatha watches other families around them building better homes and opening shops while her own family continues to struggle. This ways heavy on her.
Still, she continues, determined to overcome their struggle. When farming stops, they find another way to earn. They go into the jungle and gather what they can sell. They continue finding ways to cover their younger son’s school expenses and, when he is unwell, they take him to Mahiyangana for treatment.
Chandralatha hopes one day they can live in a better home. More than that, she wants her children to be educated and have more possibilities ahead of them.
For this family, a more reliable income would mean not having so much depend on the rain. Over the next two years, your support can help them work towards greater income security and a little more stability in meeting the everyday costs of food, education and caring for their family.
