your family update
You Backed them and things began to change
“I’ve known hunger from childhood and I still carry it with me.”
Nirojini lives in Navatkadu in the East of Sri Lanka, with her husband and three children. Her oldest is sixteen, the next is eleven, and the youngest is two and a half. They live in a small house, and there is no toilet. To shower, she has to use a relatives’ outdoor well. Her husband does whatever work he can find. Some days he goes fishing, other days he cuts stones at the mill. The work is not steady, and the money is never enough for food, school fees, and electricity. Sometimes her younger sisters help, giving what they can, and asking Nirojini to settle it back when they have money.
Nirojini grew up with four sisters. Her father had kidney surgery, and her mother had cancer. She learned to manage hardship from a very young age and still carries those experiences with her today.
Every day, she makes sure her children attend school and other classes, even if it means walking long distances. They have no savings, and the house needs lots of repairs, but they can’t be fixed because there is never enough money. Some days, they can’t cook, so the children only eat something the next day.
Nirojini and her husband work hard to make sure the children are educated. They take any work that comes their way, borrow what they must to make sure the kids stay in school. She beleives that this will help the children find a well-paying jobs in the future. She also dreams of a house complete with a toilet and is working hard every day to make it happen.