your family update
You Backed them and things began to change
Seyon
Donor
“I’m paying for everything, taking loans, begging here and there, and still can’t meet all needs.”
Vijayasundari is 77 and lives in Mandavathari in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka with her daughter and husband. Her husband used to do daily wage work, but now he mostly stays home because of his age. So Vijayasundari takes care of the house and works on the land they have left. Even at her age, she grinds paddy, looks after the seeds, and manages what they can grow.
Her daughter is twenty-four and is studying to be a teacher. Vijayasundari tries to pay for her college, but it costs thirty to forty thousand rupees a month. Some months they barely have money for food, so she takes loans and borrows from others to make sure her daughter can keep studying.
They used to have cows, goats, lots of land, and machines, but over the years they lost most of it or had to sell it to pay off debts. She talks about nineteen years of hard work and struggle to keep the family going. Even with all of that, she keeps working, making sure her daughter can finish school.
She doesn’t expect anything for herself. Vijayasundari says, “I want us to stand on our own feet without any debts, without any worries, without having to beg.” She just wants her daughter to finish college and become a teacher. She doesn’t want her to live the same life she does.
Every day she keeps going, managing debts, working the land, and supporting her daughter’s education so that she can see her child live a comfortable life in the future.
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 dear Seyon!
I live in Mandapaththadi village, in the Manmunai West Divisional Secretariat of Batticaloa district. I, Paramanantham Vijayasundari, live with my daughter and my husband. My daughter is currently studying at the Addalaichenai Teacher’s Training College.
For the past year in my village, I have joined and I am involved in the Tharkaa group and have been saving and participating. Currently, my savings are 27,000/= rupees. I have received money from this group and have been doing some self-employment businesses.
(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.)
These include grinding and selling chilli powder, making and selling idiyappam and paal appam, buying and raising chickens, roasting, packaging and selling peanuts, and grinding and selling flour. Additionally, I am also getting an income through my home garden.
(Palmera focuses on peanuts because it is a profitable sector that many in the region were not able to profitably engage in. 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 Letter from the Family with.)
Through my home garden and chicken rearing, I am fulfilling my household needs. It is also possible to get an income from the surplus produce.
(For food security, Palmera supports women to establish home gardens and small poultry farming. This is becoming more challenging with wild monkeys, limited access to seeds, and increasing pests due to changing climate. Because of these challenges, many do not engage in home gardening and poultry. Through your support, we are changing that, helping families grow their own food and earn an income from what they produce.)
Currently, my husband is in a state where he cannot do any work. It is only through the above-mentioned self-employment businesses that I am taking care of my family. Because I am educating my daughter amidst hardship, everyone treats me with respect. Because of this, I am very happy.
Currently, I do not have a toilet, so going out at night amidst the threat of wild elephants is a big challenge. Therefore, my next goal is to fulfill the need for a toilet and also to finish building a kitchen.
Dear Seyon, I greatly respect your intention to help with needs like this for needy people you don’t know. I pray that God’s blessings will always be with Seyon.
Yours,
Vijayasundari
Our work continues with Vijayasundari. 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.
