your family update
You Backed them and things began to change
I cannot describe the hardship I’ve endured. My husband and I were abducted, tortured. There is not a single place on my body without a wound.
Each day, Suthamathi and her husband look for agricultural work while caring for their 14-year-old son, whose chronic kidney illness has kept him out of school. Their work is not available every day, and when it is, they plant crops, weed fields, work in paddy and harvest cashews.
Suthamathi also sells Nampalam during its season and trades at temple festivals with her husband. Her son sometimes earns a small amount doing puja work at the temple. Together, the couple earns what they can, but their income changes from month to month. Suthamathi receives a monthly allowance for medical expenses, though it does not cover everything the family needs.
The household includes Suthamathi, her husband and their three children. Their eldest daughter left school before her A/L exams and married at 18. Before her marriage, she attempted suicide and spent 26 days in hospital, followed by a month in a psychiatric hospital. The family borrowed heavily to pay for her care and still carries debt from several sources.
Their 14-year-old son left school in Grade 8 because of his kidney illness and the difficulty of walking two kilometres to school. Suthamathi takes him to his clinic appointments, while their youngest child continues attending school. She has also tried repeatedly to enroll a child in school, writing letters and visiting while unwell.
There is no clean water supply at home. The family must fetch water from a distance, because the well near the house is not clean and does not provide enough. They have no electricity apart from one solar panel that powers a single bulb, and there is no toilet.
Suthamathi carries injuries from the war, including wounds across her body, hearing loss in both ears and a nerve condition. She and her husband were abducted and tortured. While pregnant, she hid in several places with her father and her brother’s wife.
“I cannot forget what happened. They did not create a situation where forgetting is possible,” she recalls.
Still, Suthamathi works whenever work is available, sells Nampalam, trades during festivals, saves small amounts for urgent needs and finds ways to keep the family going. She wants her youngest son to study and reach a good position. “I’m trying so that my children don’t go through the hardship I went through,” she says.
Two years of support can help Suthamathi and her family work towards greater income security and a more stable household.
