your family update
You Backed them and things began to change
Thuva
Donor
“I stayed in a collapsing mud hut while raising my daughter, even sleeping with snakes inside.”
Soundharakumari lives in Naripul Thottam, in the East of Sri Lanka with her husband and their two children. Her daughter is 18 and her son is 11. Money is scarce, so her husband goes wherever he can find work.
These days he works in paddy harvesting in another village. Becauese where they stay is so rural, he can’t find work close to home. Traveling takes money for transport, but it means he can work for several days at a stretch.
Soundharakumari raises a few chickens and sells the eggs to help with expenses. It does not bring much, but it helps pay for food and school. Sometimes they get aid from the government, or her husband sells fish he catches.
School costs are hard to manage. Her daughter’s tuition is 15000 rupees. Her son needs money every day for bus fare. Some days he can eat at school if there is a meal, other days she has to give him money for lunch.
Life has been hard. In 2006, her husband was shot in the hand during the end of the country’s civil war and it still swells sometimes. When her daughter was born, they couldn’t even buy powdered milk for her. They stayed in a mud house that was falling apart. Later, with help from the community, they built a more stable place.
Soundharakumari works to keep the family going. She paid off loans she took for emergencies. She makes sure her children go to school and keeps the chickens and eggs running.
Her hope is that her children study and get good jobs. She wants her daughter to become a teacher with a government salary, and she wants her son to keep learning too, so that their future will be a lot more stable than today.
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.
To my respected Thuva, I am Soundrakumari from the village of Nerippukulam in the Vavunatheevu region of Sri Lanka’s North East. I am writing this to tell you that we are doing well. I have five people in my family, including my husband and my three children. My husband goes for daily wage work every day. My eldest daughter is named Prasanna and she is eighteen years old and studying in school. I also have a son named Gokul who is eleven years old.
Before this, I did not have any habit of saving money. We just spent whatever we earned each day. Some days we didn’t have enough money for food and all the children’s needs.
(At the time we met Soundrakumari, her family was struggling with the deep poverty and hardships. 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.)
Then Palmera came to our village and told the women how important it is to save. They formed a group with 20 women called the Vanampadi village savings group. Now all of us are saving money with a lot of interest. Because of these savings, I was able to buy five chickens. It makes me very happy to go to the village savings group every week because all the women meet together, and we can talk about our problems and other things too. I am very happy to tell you that I now have 35,686 LKR (Approx $160 AUD) in my savings.
(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).
I feel so much joy raising these chickens with the money from my savings. I can give eggs to my children to eat and I can also sell the extra eggs to make more income. Now I do not have to just depend on my husband’s wages. I also get money from helping to weave fishing nets and by pulling weeds in the fields.
(For food security, Palmera supports women to establish a small poultry farming. This is becoming more challenging with increasing diseases due to changing climate. Because of these challenges, many do not engage in poultry. Through your support, we are changing that, helping families grow their own food and earn an income from what they produce.)
Since joining Palmera’s village savings group, I have the courage to talk to others without being shy. I can even travel alone now without fear. In the coming months, I plan to buy more chickens to increase my income. I have also decided to start a fruit and vegetable cultivation so I can lower the money we spend on house needs. For a long time, me and my family had a big problem because we did not have a toilet, but Palmera has come forward to help us build one next month.
Respected Thuva, because of the help you have given, me and my family have been blessed. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. My daughter Prasanna helped me by writing this letter in her own handwriting.
Thank you,
Yours respectfully,
Soundrakumari
Our work continues with Soundrakumari. 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.
