your family update
You Backed them and things began to change
Manohari Jeyendren
Donor
When we first met Isaivili, she was sitting outside her small temporary home with her two young children. The house stood on half an acre of dry land, but there was no water source of their own — only a few borrowed buckets from the neighbor’s tap. Her husband was resting inside, weak from another epileptic episode. She told us he could no longer work under the sun because of his nervous condition, which meant the family had no steady income.
As she spoke, her little daughter clung to her side, smiling shyly. Isaivili explained that she had to take her to the clinic every month for treatment for a bladder infection. Her son, too, walked with difficulty, needing regular hospital visits for his leg problem. The weight of all these challenges showed in her eyes — the kind of tiredness that comes from worry, not just work.
She told us how she started selling small goods in baskets near the street, just to have something to keep food on the table. There were customers, but the stock was always too little. She dreamed of planting a garden so she could sell fresh vegetables along with her goods, covering hospital costs and giving her children better meals.
In that moment, it was clear — this was a mother who carried her family’s future on her shoulders, and all she needed was a chance.
We’ve captured their voice so you can hear their story.
Before I got married, I had no interest in doing anything. But after I got married, I became interested in doing something in life. But even though I was interested in doing small fruit and vegetable farming, we did not have the facilities to do so. Every day, we would eat with the money my husband brought from his daily wage job. But the next day, there would be no work. My husband would only get to work once every two days. With that, we would go to the shops, buy rice, and cook it for ourselves. We were happy even though we were in a difficult situation.
With the arrival of the Palmera projects (Graduating the Poor) in our village, we got help through it. As the days went by, we got more help from Palmera. We got some help with livelihood. They gave us crops to plant. They encouraged us to do fruit and vegetable farming. We made some progress.
(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)
In this village, a savings group was established by Palmera. I am a member of it. We learn many good things there. In earlier times, there were no problems like abuse. But now, there are more problems. When small children walk on the streets or go to school, such problems happen. Palmera also teaches us how to handle them.
I took a loan from the Palmera village bank. Through that, I renovated my house a little. I also started raising chickens. From that, I take nutritious eggs and give them to the children as food. I do not sell the eggs; I give them to the children.
Additionally, I took a small loan and started fruit and vegetable farming. We prepare nutritious food without using medicines or artificial fertilizers. I have grown cassava, etc. I also give nutritious food to the children.
We also benefit from the peanut seeds provided by Palmera. Through this, I have made some progress. We still want to make more progress.
The Palmera team used to come and visit us. They come and give us a lot of advice. We are very happy to listen to their advice. Our mental troubles decrease because of listening to them. We feel that there is someone to go to for advice and guidance. It also gives us happiness in our minds. Therefore, our family is happy now without any problems.
Because of their help, my family and I are happy now. The reason we are happy with our children is because of their help. We thank you for helping us. Thank you very much. We pray to God that your children and all of you live happily. Thank you very much for helping us. We continue to pray to God that you live happily without any illness. Thank you.
