your family update
You Backed them and things began to change
“My eyes water from worry when we have to pay for something. There is nothing left.”
Vijenthini lives in Batticaloa, in the East of Sri Lanka, with her husband and their four children. The family of six has been working hard for years to keep the children in school and moving forward.
Vijenthini and her husband run a poultry buying and selling business together. When paddy season comes around, her husband also takes on field boundary work in Varattivu to bring in extra money. They manage the household, the kids’ food, and all their school costs out of what they earn between them. There’s nothing left over at the end.
As Vijenthini puts it, “The money we earn is just enough to live on. There is nothing left over, no matter how hard we work.” All four children are at different stages in their studies. The eldest is already at campus. The second child’s studies are helped along by the eldest uncle. For one of the younger children, the family had to pay 60,000 rupees just to enroll them in a class, and they had to do it during a time when money was tight. They found a way to pay it. Covering English lessons and other subjects on top of that has added to the pressure.
To try to grow the business, Vijenthini takes small loans a village savings group and pays it back. She’s using that to invest in the poultry farming. The goal is to get the business to a point where it can carry more of the family’s costs.
Right now there’s no room to save. Every rupee that comes in goes straight back out to cover daily life. But Vijenthini and her husband aren’t standing still. They’re working the business, taking on extra seasonal work when it’s there, and leaning on family support where they need to.
What Vijenthini wants most is to see the children finish their studies, get settled in life, and be well looked after, and she’s working every day to make that possible.