your family update
You Backed them and things began to change
“For the past four years my husband hasn’t worked, and I carry everything alone.”
Sanitha lives in Batticaloa, in the East of Sri Lanka, with her husband and their four children. She’s the one keeping the household going, and she’s been doing it alone for the past four years.
Her husband used to bring in a little through daily labour, but that stopped when his health broke down. For the past four years he’s had recurring bouts of dizziness, severe headaches, and what the family describes as platelet fever.
He barely leaves the house, and when he does, he comes back unwell. He also drinks, and when he comes home drunk he takes money from the house and sometimes abuses and beats the children. Sanitha says he’s there, but it’s as if he isn’t there. She’s had no choice but to carry everything herself.
The local governemnt officer is aware of the situation and has stepped in about his behaviour. Every morning Sanitha cooks and sells idiyappam, puttu, and packed meals from home. Orders come in when they come in, and when they don’t, the income stops. There’s no fixed amount coming in each month, and no one to fall back on.
Her elder sister lives close by but has four children of her own and a low income, and isn’t in a place to help. Sanitha also looks after her elderly mother. Her 18-year-old daughter is studying at a hostel in the city, and Sanitha covers those costs herself. She’s also keeping her three younger children in school.
When food money runs short, she buys rice and groceries on credit from the local shop and pays it back when orders come in, then runs credit again. She doesn’t take loans. She’s afraid of debt and doesn’t want to go deeper into it than she already is.
What Sanitha’s working toward is straightforward: she wants all three of her younger children to study, find jobs, and reach a good position in life. She wants their future to be a stable one, where they live comfortably and safely, without worrying about money the way she does.