your family update
You Backed them and things began to change
“I do any work, anything to earn some money for us to buy some rice so that we can eat.”
Sivamаlar lives in Vilanthottan, in the East of Sri Lanka, and she’s been carrying a lot for a long time. She’s done daily labour for years, taking whatever work that comes; whether churning butter, building bundts, or bag-making work. The work is not steady, and some weeks there is more than others, but she keeps showing up for whatever is available.
At home, she is caring for two daughters who have not been able to walk since they were around five years old. Both are now adults, 18 and 21. Sivamalar traveled to Colombo and later to Mattakkallappu seeking care for her children when they were young. She carried what she had and went where she needed to go.
One of her children did not survive. Another daughter is now married and living in Morali.
The house Sivamalar lives in is not a proper structure. An elephant destroyed it, and it has not been rebuilt. The family draws water from a well for drinking and there is no toilet, so they use the forest or the open fields.
Caste discrimination is something she still runs into, and she doesn’t hold back about how that feels. She says it makes her blood boil. On top of that, the state of her living conditions sits heavy on her. She looks at the things around her and it makes her sad.
Her children help with the household as best as they can, and Sivamalar uses what she earns from labour to buy rice and cover what the family needs. There is nothing left to save or for anything else. When work does not come, the family manages with what is there.
Sivamalr says she has a wish for things to be better, and what she wants most is for her children to be well and to see her family’s situation improve.
