your family update
You Backed them and things began to change
“I don’t want our children to live like us. I want them to have a better life.”
Dino lives in Batticaloa in the East of Sri Lanka, with her household of four people, including two children.
Work has never been steady for Dino. She takes whatever comes her way, and that’s how it’s been for a long time. At one point she went abroad hoping to find something more stable, but it didn’t work out and she came back without a job. Since then she’s kept going with daily, irregular labour work, picking up whatever is available.
Her husband is in the same situation, trying to bring in money. He has also been doing odd jobs here and there, but neither of them have anything permanent. There’s no fixed income coming in each month, and that makes it hard to plan for anything. Dino describes income as a real struggle, and it has been for years.
One thing she’s made sure of is that her son is in school. The school doesn’t charge fees, which helps, and she’s kept him going despite the financial pressure at home. Keeping him in school isn’t something she’s left to chance. It’s something she’s actively held onto.
When money runs short, there isn’t a clear safety net. Dino manages by staying close to whatever work she can find, taking each day as it comes. There’s no mention of savings or family support to fall back on. It’s mostly just effort and whatever turns up.
What keeps her going is what she wants for her children. She doesn’t want them to spend their life the way she has, moving from one uncertain job to the next, never knowing what’s coming. She wants them to get somewhere stable, somewhere better, and that’s why she keeps them in school even when things are tight. Dino wants her children to reach a good position in life, and that’s what she’s working toward every day.