your family update
You Backed them and things began to change
“I had to stop studying when I was in the ninth grade because my family had no money.”
Both Lingajothi and her sister couldn’t finish school. Her father was the only one working and there were four children in the family. There was not enough money to cover school costs
Now she’s 31 and lives with her husband and their little boy who is two years old. Because of what she lost in her childhood, she really wants her son to stay in school and study well.
Her husband works as a mason. It’s daily wage work. But he can only work if there’s work available. Some months he may get around fifteen or twenty days of work, or less. If it rains there’s no work at all, and those days they just manage with what they can.
Most of the money he earns is spent on food for the family. They also pay for a loan and a motorbike lease. After those things, there is nothing left. When money is tight, they take a few items from the shop on credit and pay it back when he gets paid again.
Lingajothi looks after their son and takes care of about fifteen chickens that they raise for eggs. She sells them and makes some extra money to help with expenses at home.
Her parents help when they can. Sometimes they bring rice so the family will have something to eat until the next time her husband gets work.
The house they live in is not complete. It doesn’t have a toilet yet. She says they want to work on the house slowly, put a proper roof over their heads, build a toilet and have a fence around it when they are able to afford it.
When she talks about the future she always comes back to her son. Lingajothi doesn’t want him to struggle the way she did when she had to leave school early. She says she wants him to study well and get a small job one day, so that he can live comfortably.