your family update
You Backed them and things began to change
Risha Tharmarajah
Donor
When we met Suntharampal in Mullaithivu, she stood before us with quiet strength, carrying the weight of her entire family on her shoulders. A widow after losing her husband to cancer, she is now the head of her household, doing everything she can to keep her family alive. At 85 years old, her frail mother depends on her for daily care. One of her sons, who lost his leg in a tragic car accident, struggles with limited mobility and no stable support.
Suntharampal works as a daily wage laborer whenever work is available, but most days there is no guarantee of income. Some days she returns home empty-handed, with no money to buy even a simple meal. The family lives in extremely difficult conditions. They do not have a well, and accessing clean water is a daily struggle. Medical needs remain unattended because there is simply no money to afford treatment.
Despite her pain and exhaustion, Suntharampal continues to fight for her children and her elderly mother. But her strength alone is not enough. This family urgently needs support for food, medical care, and basic necessities. Your sponsorship can bring hope, stability, and dignity back into their lives.
We’ve captured their voice so you can hear their story.
My name is Chandrasekaran Suntharampal. I have two children, one boy and one girl. My husband was very sick. He had cancer. We used to go from the hospital to home. I also have an elderly mother. She is blind, and I am taking care of her.
Those were very hard days for us. We did not have any job. We did not even a chair to sit. If anyone came to our house, we did not even have a space. My husband died of cancer. I used to do wage jobs to pay for the children’s meals. It was very difficult for us to eat. We would eat only two meals a day We did not have food for even one of our meals.
Also, my son had an accident and was bedridden at home. My mother is blind, so I would ask her to look after my son while I went to work. We did wage jobs like picking peanuts in other people’s lands . At noon, we would cook something with that money and eat.
It was at this time I joined the Palmera Village Savings Bank group. I brought money from work and saved 100 LKR (approx $ 0.45 AUD) every Sunday. The Palmera team would also visit us at home. We received help from the Palmera Village Savings Bank. I got a loan from there and bought chickens.
(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)
Later, they helped us by supporting us with peanut seeds and training through Palmera. After getting those seeds, I sowed them twice a year and harvested them.
(Palmera focuses on peanuts because it is a profitable sector that many in the region where not able to profitable engage with. What was needed was to address many last mile agricultural barriers including new practices, technologies, access to quality seeds and collective purchasing of inputs and selling, all activities that we are supporting Suntharampal with)
Later, I started fruit and vegetable cultivation. From that, I got the vegetables needed for the house every day and cooked them. I sold the excess to shops. I used that money to buy other household items.
(For food security Palmera supports women to establish their own home garden, this is getting more challenging with wild monkeys, limited access to seeds and increasing pests with changing climate, because of all these challenges many do not engage in home gardens. Through your support we change that).
Earlier, we did not know about fruit and vegetable cultivation. Palmera taught us all this. Through that, we practiced it and received many benefits. Earlier, we didnot know about small savings. I could not go to banks and did not have any savings account. I kept this information to myself, These, but now I am saving money through Palmera.
Similarly, if I had known about fruit and vegetable cultivation earlier, I would have done it. Through that, my husband might have lived a few more days. At that time, we bought limited vegetables along with medicine. But now we are growing our own fruits and vegetables with chemical-free produce. If we had had such a healthy diet earlier, my husband might have lived longer.
Later, I received a goat through Palmera. We set up a goat pen. They helped by giving four goats. We earn income from goat farming. I sold some goats, and now we have 15 goats. Through the income from goat farming, we now eat three meals a day. We struggled a lot before, but now we eat three times a day through this income.
(Now with home garden for food security, connections to savings and the first livelihood – groundnuts, Palmera starts to establish the second livelihood, in this instance goat rearing).
With this income, I buy medicine for my mother and provide her with good food. After meeting our needs, we also started home construction work with the additional income. Earlier, when anyone came to our house, there was not even a single chair. I bought chairs. My mother did not even have a fan, and our house was very hot. She used to ask me to take her outside. Later, I bought a fan for her. Now my mother does not ask me to take her outside. She is comfortable inside the house. She is 87 years old and blind.
Mother, the family named Risha Tharmarajah has helped you. Do you like to say anything to them?
I do not know how to thank them for helping me. May their families and children be blessed. May they live happily for a long time. We will never forget the help they gave us during our difficult times. May they be well with God’s blessings.
