your family update
You Backed them and things began to change
Meehraa
Donor
“When the children get sick, we don’t have enough money to treat them.”
Saalini lives with her husband and their two children, a daughter, 8, and a son, 3, in the Kilinochchi district of Sri Lanka. They barely have enough money to feed a family of four. Everyday life is a struggle that worried Saalini very much.
Their home is a fragile, temporary shelter that wind and rain often damage, and they have no toilet. With no steady income, even regular meals and their children’s education are hard to afford, and medical needs often go unmet.
Even with her family around her, Saalini carried her worries alone, with no one to share them with. Tension with her husband’s family adds to the strain at times. When needs pile up, there isn’t always a way to resolve them.
Despite this, Saalini holds her household together and looks after her children. When we ask her what she wants most in the future, she says, she wants a safe, steady home, regular meals and schooling for her children, and the medical care her family needs.
Please note for many women sharing in written form is not easy. We sit with women to support them to share their story and have added context so you can weave together what you have made possible.
Dear Meehraa,
Are you well? I am Saalini. My family and I are well. I live in a village called Iranji in the Poonakari region of the Kilinochchi district in Sri Lanka. In my family, my husband, my daughter (8 years old), my son (3 years old), and I live.
(At the time we met Saalini, her family was struggling with the deep poverty. With Palmera’s support, she found the strength to save her own money and start a business, helping her family recover and rebuild their lives.)
I learned that some women in my village get together to do a weekly saving. Then I contacted the facilitator who works in my area and spoke with her, and joined the village savings group called Thurkkai. After joining that meeting, I, who was living alone, felt like I was gaining many relationships. For me, who was living with a lot of worries deep in my mind, this group became a place that gave me peace and support.
My husband sometimes fights with his family. When such troubles come, I share my mental worries with my group members. By doing so, my mental burdens lessen, and they speak comfortingly to me. Because of that, my mind finds peace. To attend the meeting every week, I finish all my work for that day and come on time. Because of this, I have also learned the habit of managing my time.
Sometimes I also take my children with me. I feel happy watching them play with the other children.
Before joining this group, I had no saving habit at all. As soon as I joined this group, the habit of saving started. I started saving one hundred rupees every week, and now I save up to five hundred rupees.
(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 women come together each week to talk, to share what is going on and support each other. This is the foundation for change because change happens in community and that is exactly what these structures support.)
To increase my savings, I will sell goats and cows, I will sell coconut leaf ribs, I will sell coconut oil, I will go for daily wage labour. I will put my money into savings. Because I joined this group, my hesitation and shyness have gone away.
In this group, they conduct the meeting every week. That too is under a rotating leadership. Through that, my leadership skills and the determination to manage my family have emerged. Also, for the past six months, because I have been performing the duty of the income book writer in this group, I am also learning finance management.
Now, I have received a loan of 50,000/= rupees, which is double the amount I saved. Along with my husband’s income, we have built a one-room permanent stone house and are living very happily.
(When Saalini first came to the programme, basic improvements to how her family lived were out of reach. Through the financial stability she has built, she has been able to invest in the conditions of daily life; safe shelter, clean water, sanitation. These are not things Palmera provided directly. They are what becomes possible when a family has stable income and the confidence to invest in their own future.)
Due to illness, for a hernia surgery, I was able to get a loan from these savings and resolve my husband’s medical condition. Due to the severe treatment, my husband does not go to work continuously. In this situation, by using these savings, I was able to manage food and other needs.
I have decided to sell spice powder to further increase my savings and my standard of living. Through this project, a belief has been created that women can be safe and self-confident in any situation today.
May God bless you to live healthily and happily. Also, I express my sincere thanks for selecting me and my group, and I pray to God that you and your family also live well and happily.
Thank you,
Yours truly,
Saalini
Our work continues with Saalini. She has begun the journey to stand on her own, but lasting change takes time. We will walk alongside her for one more year before letting go of her hand. It is this continued accompaniment that makes all the difference. And this is possible because of you. Thank you.
