your family update
You Backed them and things began to change
“The money we spent to send my husband abroad is still a debt we’re paying off.”
Nalini lives in Palacholai in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka, with her three daughters. Her husband is working abroad in a Middle Eastern country, so she runs the household on her own. She has an 11-year-old daughter and 10-year-old twins. The 4 of them share one room and a kitchen.
The family sent her husband abroad hoping his income would help them get ahead, but it cost a lot to make that happen. That debt is still with them, and there are other debts on top of it. He sends what money he can, but it does not stretch far enough to cover everything. Creditors keep pressing Nalini for repayment, and she is doing her best to manage it all.
The tight space is one of the hardest parts of daily life. Nalini says it is already difficult for her and the twins just to fit inside. She wants a better house, somewhere her children can sleep properly, but right now that is not something she can think of.
Her eldest daughter’s tuition fees are another pressure. Nalini cannot pay for it, so she went and spoke to the teachers herself. One kind teacher agreed to let her daughter attend without paying. For the other subjects, Nalini waits until money comes in and sends her then. She is keeping her daughter in classes the best way she can. Because she wants her to complete school.
Nalini carries real worry about her girls and what their future looks like. She knows education matters, but she is honest that it is hard to see how to make it work when money is this tight. But she doesn’t give up. She keeps trying for her kids.
What she wants most is to clear the debts, find a bigger place to live, and give her daughters a chance to grow up with some stability. She hopes their education will give them a better life.
