your family update
You Backed them and things began to change
“Once when sewage water came into house during the rains, everyone got fever, even the baby got very sick.”
Sumirtha lives in a small village in Sri Lanka’s East with her husband and four children. She is 32. Her husband is a fisherman, but he does not always get work. Some months he works ten days, some fifteen, and some months not at all. When he does fish, it does not bring in much money, and sometimes it’s not enough to feed 6 mouths.
Their oldest is thirteen and has a learning problem, so he goes to a special needs class. Then there is a nine-year-old girl, a four-year-old boy, and a seven-month-old baby. The older ones go to school, and Sumirtha pays for uniforms and books, but it costs a lot. All the children had to have surgery. It was a big expense for them.
Because of the baby she can’t find work of her own. She stays at home caring for the children and managing the house.
Sumirtha manages the money they get carefully, but they have loans to pay. Sometimes they run out of money and have to borrows a little from a shop for food. There are many days when they don’t have enough to eat. Sometimes they don’t have proper meals for a whole week, but she makes sure the children get something.
She worries about the loans and house repairs. The house leaks when it rains, and water from nearby sewage comes in. Once when that happened, everyone had a fever, and some had asthma, but she looked after them all.
Life is hard but Sumirtha is hopeful about the future. She wants to start a small business or a shop one day, so the family can earn steadily. She wants her children to finish school and get jobs where they are able to live comfortably with what they earn. She also hopes to build a small house for them to grow up safe in.