your family update
You Backed them and things began to change
Anna Tishkovets
Donor
When we met Merymedona, she stood in the doorway of her unfinished home, her two daughters peeking shyly from behind her. The walls around them were bare and cold, offering little comfort, but her smile tried to hide the weight of her reality.
Her husband, living with a disability, forces himself to work as a daily-wage laborer whenever he can. What little he earns is quickly swallowed by their daily needs—and by his struggle with alcohol. There is no well, no reliable water, and no steady path forward.
Her daughters go to school, carrying dreams far bigger than the small rooms they return to. But for Merymedona, each day is a battle to keep them fed, clothed, and safe. On their small piece of land, there is potential for life to bloom, but poverty keeps it dry and unused.
In her eyes, there was both exhaustion and quiet determination—a mother holding her family together in the midst of hardship, still hoping for a day when her children’s lives will not be defined by struggle.
We’ve captured their voice so you can hear their story.
Are you a member of a village women economic empowerment group in your village? What kind of activities are going on in it?
Yes, I am a member of this village group. I am really happy that I have been able to join this group. We have received a lot of training through this group. We have come together as twenty women in this group we gather together and save money. If any of us in the group gets sick, we all visit them and take care of them. We are so happy. Through the group, we have learned how to grow fruit and vegetables without using toxic chemicals.
(Women gather in these groups where Palmera provides 2 years of support on financial literacy, savings habits and ways for them to pool savings to provide loans to each other. Through these groups we run several initiatives to strengthen social bonds and ways of working together which had suffered through the years of displacement that families experienced).
Do you think there have been any changes in your family since you started your livelihood?
Yes, a lot has changed for us. We suffered a lot without water. We were supported with a piped water supply Because of this livelihood, we have been able to grow fruits and vegetables on our land to sell and cook and eat the vegetables. Now we can access food for our home.
I have four daughters, and I have struggled all these years without water. Now, the pipe provides water facilities to drink water, bathe and washing clothes at home. We used to go far to fetch water for our children, but now that we have water at home, we no longer face that problem.
Due to my husband’s disability, I was the only one who went to work. Now, with the income I get from fruit and vegetables cultivation, I no longer have to work as a wage laborer. I finally have time to rest at home for a few days to tend to all this work.
Families are (and will) be provided with the critical asset, training, connections to critical services and connections to buyers to ensure assets can be effectively leveraged to ensure a sustained income. In the photo you can see how she is using bags for certain crops – this is part of the training on how she can produce fruit and vegetables during the seasons with lower water – these are the many techniques where hands on training is provided to ensure that there is food security and income throughout the year.
How do you want to be in the future?
I have one acre land and I want to continue my fruit and vegetable cultivation – with that income I want to be able to fully cover my children’s education and ensure we have three meals a day, that’s all my wish is.
Anna Tishkovets family have supported you. Do you want to say something to them?
We thank them very much for giving us this water facility and support. We express our deep gratitude to them. We have suffered for so long without a permanent water supply and that has meant it has impacted our livelihood and income. I wish the person who provided us with this pipe (water facility) a very good life.
Not everyone has the heart to give like this. You have given it to us so generously. May you be blessed with a long and prosperous life.
Please note for many beneficiaries sharing in written form is not easy. We sit with these men and women to support them to share their story and have added context so you can weave together what you have made possible.
My name is Merymedona. I live in Rangankudiyiruppu. My husband, our two children, and I -the four of us- live here.
Both our children are married. My husband, considering our family’s situation, goes to whatever daily wage work he can find for a low salary. I also go to whatever work I can find. Even so, because of our debts, we couldn’t make ends meet. Sometimes, we would get manioc and sambal from our neighbour’s house to eat. We have no fence. We have no water facility. We had to go a long way to fetch water. Sometimes, we had to go to our neighbour’s house to bathe our children. Because of this, they would be upset and would sometimes speak to us using improper words. We would think about it and feel sad, but we would console ourselves.
(At the time we met Merymedona, her family was struggling with deep poverty. With yours and Palmera’s support, she found the strength to save her own money and build a livelihood, helping her family recover and rebuild their lives.)
In this difficult situation, help was given to our family. To Anna who gave us this help, and to her family, I express my thanks on behalf of my family.
While things were like this, a village savings group was brought to our village. I didn’t join immediately. Even though my neighbours came and told me to join, for some reason I didn’t. Then, a person working in Palmera but also from the village guided me to join some meetings and explained that changes would happen for me there. Because I wanted change to happen, that very week, on the first day, I saved 10/=. They encouraged me, saying, “At least hold on to one inch.” I went thinking that my situation would not be stable, but what happened there was different and made me very happy.
(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. Through the village bank, people come together each week to talk, to share what is going on and support each other. This is a foundation for change. Because change happens in community and that is exactly what these structures support.)
I went to the meeting the second week as well. The organisation’s staff came to the meeting and spoke with me lovingly, which was comforting. They also gave us advice about home gardening and its benefits, and about how this activity could increase our savings. I went home that very day. I took the water from washing rice and used it as manure. Furthermore, I took ordinary soil and filled bags and planted twenty useful saplings like chilli, brinjal, and tomato. A few of the saplings grew well at times, but because I didn’t add fertiliser, [the growth was slow]. I used fish waste to make fish acid, and on the thirtieth day, I mixed the fish acid with water and gave it to the plants as fertiliser in a way that the roots could absorb it. The vegetables grew and hung in a way we never expected. We… and all the people in the village came and praised it very much, which made us happy.
The organisation, praising our efforts, built a well for us on high ground to provide water. Our water shortage was solved. The fact that they provided a water facility at our own home made me very happy. I cannot describe the amount of happiness on my children’s faces.
After two weeks, we prepared the land and planted vegetable saplings. They would help us with greens and root vegetables. I would wake up in the morning and do a little bit of work to maintain the garden. We planted things needed for the house like brinjal, chilli, greens, cabbage, and beans. Because of this, in the morning, it was enough to boil a little for the children. At lunchtime, we were able to cook two vegetable curries with our rice. There were many changes in our food. My husband was also happy. The man who used to speak [critically] when I went to the group meeting the day before, now praised me.
He himself changed the savings to five hundred rupees and gave me the money from selling the fertiliser and beans. We paid off the loans we had taken, step by step. With a small grant, we got a small coop and bought and raised five chickens. Because we had made a large saving, within two months, three chickens started laying eggs. Once every two days, we used the eggs for our household needs. We set one hen to brood, and four chicks hatched and survived. Currently, there are nine chickens. I am confident that they will grow and we can create more chickens.
Currently, through the garden and raising chickens, a monthly income of thirty-two thousand (32,000/=) rupees is coming in.
(The assets Merymedona has built through the programme -her animals, her cultivation, her skills- belong entirely to her. When Palmera’s support ends, these income sources do not disappear. What she has built continues. This is what sustainable economic independence looks like.)
Because my husband also does wage work, we have the opportunity to pay good attention to our children’s educational activities.
(Through the programme, Merymedona has been able to place her children’s education at the centre of her household planning. When a mother can pay school fees without crisis or borrowing, children stay in school. And with that, the path forward for the next generation begins to open.)
Now, my goal is to continuously change the crops according to the weather conditions to earn a profit, and to help with my children’s educational needs so they can learn in the best way.
Even if Palmera projects leave us now, we will never fall behind because of our path of hard work. Still, it is sad for us that Palmera is leaving us.
We pray to God on behalf of our family that Anna and her family, who helped us succeed in our life, may live with more and more excellence, happiness, and health. We also express our heartfelt thanks and feel great joy.
Thank you.
Merymedona
This is our final letter from Merymedona. The programme is complete. And what she has built will not end when our work does. She came to us with no savings, no reliable income, and no clear path forward. She leaves with all three. And with the skills, confidence, and community to keep building what she has started long after this programme ends. Thank you for making all this possible. We couldn’t have done it without your generosity.
