your family update
You Backed them and things began to change
“I am bedridden. There’s no one to help us. My siblings are poor too. I feel sad inside.”
Iyirangani lives in, Mahiyanganaya, the North Central of Sri Lanka, with her youngest son. She has five children in total. Her three daughters are married and her eldest son lives with his father. It’s just the two of them now – Iyirangani and her 14-year-old son, who’s turning 15.
About a year ago, Iyirangani had to stop working. She’d had diabetes since she was 35, but she kept doing day labour anyway. Then her health got much worse. High blood pressure, cholesterol, and a heart attack around six months ago left her bedridden. She hasn’t been able to work since. The household runs on roughly 5,000 rupees a month in government help and whatever her son earns doing day labour on his days off from school.
Her son is in grade twelve. On the days he isn’t in school, he works. The money he brings in goes toward food, medicine, and what little they can manage for his schooling. Iyirangani can only afford to put him in one tuition class – maths. She can’t cover the others. She can’t always cover clothes and shoes either. When he comes home and tells her what he needs, she tells him to eat and dress with what they have and just keep studying. She doesn’t let him see how much it weighs on her.
Food is tight every day. They cook once and eat the leftovers at night. The 5,000 rupees covers basic things like rice, onions, and chillies, but not much else. Her siblings can’t help – they’re in the same situation. There’s no one to call on.
Her medical situation is still not sorted. She needs a biopsy. A private hospital quoted 90,000 rupees, which isn’t possible, so she’s waiting to have it done at the government hospital. She’s already travelled to Colombo for treatment, spending 21 days there including five days at Colombo National Hospital, before coming back with a referral letter for Mahiyanganaya. She’s making it work with what’s available.
Iyirangani wants her son to finish his education and get a government job, and that’s what she’s holding onto. That his future will be better than what she can offer him now.