All in a day’s work
A small group of women sit under a large tree while one of them reads the minutes. At the head of the gathering, Gnaneswaryturns the pages of her notebooks and reads out the accounts and action pointsof the previous meeting of their society. Taking turns, members start to tell her of the little victories they’ve achieved over the month. One of them has a new patch of vegetables growing in her home garden since the last time the group met and excitedly awaits her harvest. They move on to other matters; the discussion veers on and they talk about the requirement for electricity in their homes.Another one quips that it is only the lamp post on the street that lights up her house at night.
This mothers group that meets once a month isthe ‘Namahal Association,’ consisting of female members of the village of Uthumadu where some 28 families have been resettled long after the three decade long civil war came to an end in
Sri Lanka.The President of the Association, Gnaneswary, a young pre-school teacher, aspires to teach more than just children.
NO TRACES OF LIFE
“When we returned in 2007, the entire area was just covered in forests. There were no traces of our houses. We had to rebuild our lives from scratch,” says Gnaneswary. “Through the Government housing plan, we built our home and I live with my son and husband, who is currently away for work.”
Through this association, mothers meet on a monthly basis and discuss their everyday lives.“From purchasing food crops and seeds for cultivating in their home gardens, to children’s studies to handling their everyday home finances, we discuss a whole range of topics. Something I am very passionate about is encouraging the women in the association to save regularly,” she explains.
Many of the members have been able to start small initiatives to make some extra money and support their families further. Gnaneswary herself has manioc, green leaves, mangoes and jackfruit in her home garden, and when it rains the next time, she plans to harvest the manioc yam for the first time. After storing enough for her family, she hopes to sell the excess leaves, yams and fruits in the neighbourhood.
SUSTAINABLE RESETTLEMENT
As a village in the East of Sri Lanka that was a part of the recently released landsfor resettlement by the Government of Sri Lanka, the community in Uthumadu were assisted through the ‘Support to Sustainable Resettlement in Sri Lanka’ (SSRS) project jointly implemented by the Government of Sri Lanka and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Sri Lanka, funded by the Government of the United Kingdom. New roads that provide better access to homes, solar powered street lights, and a community well for drinking water have also been provided to the community of Uthumaduunder this project. Many like Gnaneswaryhave also received livestock, sewing and weaving machines, food crops and seeds, and agricultural equipment to enhance their livelihood opportunities, alongside skills training on methods to manage finances, document keeping, book keeping, and household management.
Societies such as the ‘Namahal Association,’ and farmers associations too have been formed to ensure the community can work together, discuss and implement ways to better their lives here in Uthumadu.
As one of the selected resettled persons here, Gnaneswary received cattle as a means of sustainable livelihood to support her son and husband, under the organization’s mission to empower women and youth in this community, especially through enhancing livelihood opportunities. “A litre of cow’s milk can be sold for Rs 65. I expect my cattle to begin producing milk soon, and this would help me make some much needed extra income on a daily basis,” she says.
A BETTER, RELIABLE AND SUFFICIENT FUTURE
Gnaneswary works hard throughout the day to ensure the future of her family would be much better than her childhood. Although she was not born in Uthumadu, her parents lived here before they were displaced in 1990. Since lands were released to its owners in 2015, she inherited her parents’ property. After a lifetime of living with relatives and in little huts, she now hopes for a better, more reliable and sufficient future.
It has only been a few months since she moved in with her husband and threeyear-old son to the newly constructed house in Uthumadu, partially sponsored by the government. “I take my son to the pre-school run by the District Secretariat close-by and also teach there in the mornings. I believe that early-years education is pivotal for the development of children, and contributes towards their success later on,” she says. “I hope to give my son a brighter future and everything I do is to build a life that I can be proud of,” she concludes.