Family eats bitter gourd to stave off hunger Mother admitted to hospital for low sugar level
By Aisha Nazim
and Ruchira Senaratne- February 4, 2014
The Department of Census and Statistics is fond of showing an ever increasing economic growth rate to portray how well-off the Sri Lankan community is in this postwar era. Sadly, these data and statistics are not exactly accurate, especially when considering the economic situation of the rural communities, where the population is mostly made up of farmers and labourers.
The poverty levels of the farmers are such that many families forgo meals as they cannot earn enough to fulfil even their basic needs, including feeding and providing for their children.
Such is the case of R. Vinitha Seneviratne, who, unable to feed herself and her family, was compelled to live off the bitter gourds that grew in her garden.
A resident of Sivalapitiya in Dunumadalaawa, Vinitha is a mother of four, the oldest child being a girl of 13, while the youngest are two-month-old twins.
Impoverished family
Her husband is a labourer, who is barely able to find work these days, leaving the impoverished family of six even worse off than they are usually. The daughter has been admitted to the Anuradhapura Hospital six times so far, as she suffers from a hearing impairment and has had to undergo surgery to rectify it.
Tears fill Vinitha's eyes as she recalls how she was unable to feed her starving children as they did not have anything at home, not even a grain of rice.
"The children were crying for rice, for food, but there wasn't anything at all I could feed them with. My husband is a labourer and wasn't able to get any sort of work for a long time. This rendered us unable to buy even a kilo of rice to feed our children. My husband said that he wasn't able to borrow even a cent from anyone, and told me that we will just have to resign ourselves to die of starvation," she said, adding that it was as a last resort that she plucked the bitter gourd that grew in her garden and fed her family with only that for five days.
However, the diet did not bode well with her and she felt faint and unwell after having it for three consecutive meals. Having no other option she continued with it but by the fifth day, she experienced severe stomach problems.
"After five days of nothing but boiled bitter gourds, my stomach revolted and I had diarrhoea. I thought it would settle down but it only got worse. As there was nothing to be done, I went to the Alayapatthuwa Hospital and was then transferred to the Nochchiyagama Hospital. I was admitted and received treatment for about 12 days. My children continued to be in hunger throughout," Vinitha explained.
Poverty can have many causes and Vinitha and her family are just one of the hundreds of other farming families undergoing similar fates. The reason this time is said to be the lack of rain, which caused many of the harvests – be it rice, pulses or vegetables – to fail. A correspondent from Pubudupura pointed out that there were no rains during the maha season, causing many farmlands to become barren, which in turn affected their economic status as their livelihoods depended on their harvests.
Vicious cycle of debt
Meanwhile, National Organizer of All Ceylon Peasants' Federation (ACPF), Namal Karunaratne, pointed out that another reason for farmers to be enmeshed in poverty was because of the vicious cycle of debt in which they are caught up in.
Citing an issue, which has persisted throughout the years, Karunaratne said that farmers never make a profit as they can never sell their produce at a price that would cover the cost of production.
Farmers bear the cost of production, but are unable to market it for a price which would bring them profit. Subsequently, as they have no alternative but to sell it, they sell it for a much lesser price than is fair to themselves, he said.
"They take loans in order to cultivate their farms, and then more loans to pay it back because what they make from sales doesn't cover costs. They become entangled in an unbreakable web of debt. It's no wonder that people starve; sometimes they can't bear the hardships of life and they resort to committing suicide. Mothers attempt to kill themselves along with their children, and this is when you hear stories of women jumping into wells and in front of oncoming trains while holding onto their infants," he added.
While the government provides Samurdhi allowances to most farmers, this is not enough for their sustenance. As they are bereft of decent and regular meals, they fall victim to many diseases, especially kidney-related diseases. Karunaratne highlighted that over 400,000 farmers in the North-Central Province alone were afflicted with kidney diseases, while many of the children and pregnant mothers are malnourished.
(Pix by Ruchira Senaratne)
By Aisha Nazim
and Ruchira Senaratne- February 4, 2014
The Department of Census and Statistics is fond of showing an ever increasing economic growth rate to portray how well-off the Sri Lankan community is in this postwar era. Sadly, these data and statistics are not exactly accurate, especially when considering the economic situation of the rural communities, where the population is mostly made up of farmers and labourers.
The poverty levels of the farmers are such that many families forgo meals as they cannot earn enough to fulfil even their basic needs, including feeding and providing for their children.
Such is the case of R. Vinitha Seneviratne, who, unable to feed herself and her family, was compelled to live off the bitter gourds that grew in her garden.
A resident of Sivalapitiya in Dunumadalaawa, Vinitha is a mother of four, the oldest child being a girl of 13, while the youngest are two-month-old twins.
Impoverished family
Her husband is a labourer, who is barely able to find work these days, leaving the impoverished family of six even worse off than they are usually. The daughter has been admitted to the Anuradhapura Hospital six times so far, as she suffers from a hearing impairment and has had to undergo surgery to rectify it.
Tears fill Vinitha's eyes as she recalls how she was unable to feed her starving children as they did not have anything at home, not even a grain of rice.
"The children were crying for rice, for food, but there wasn't anything at all I could feed them with. My husband is a labourer and wasn't able to get any sort of work for a long time. This rendered us unable to buy even a kilo of rice to feed our children. My husband said that he wasn't able to borrow even a cent from anyone, and told me that we will just have to resign ourselves to die of starvation," she said, adding that it was as a last resort that she plucked the bitter gourd that grew in her garden and fed her family with only that for five days.
However, the diet did not bode well with her and she felt faint and unwell after having it for three consecutive meals. Having no other option she continued with it but by the fifth day, she experienced severe stomach problems.
"After five days of nothing but boiled bitter gourds, my stomach revolted and I had diarrhoea. I thought it would settle down but it only got worse. As there was nothing to be done, I went to the Alayapatthuwa Hospital and was then transferred to the Nochchiyagama Hospital. I was admitted and received treatment for about 12 days. My children continued to be in hunger throughout," Vinitha explained.
Poverty can have many causes and Vinitha and her family are just one of the hundreds of other farming families undergoing similar fates. The reason this time is said to be the lack of rain, which caused many of the harvests – be it rice, pulses or vegetables – to fail. A correspondent from Pubudupura pointed out that there were no rains during the maha season, causing many farmlands to become barren, which in turn affected their economic status as their livelihoods depended on their harvests.
Vicious cycle of debt
Meanwhile, National Organizer of All Ceylon Peasants' Federation (ACPF), Namal Karunaratne, pointed out that another reason for farmers to be enmeshed in poverty was because of the vicious cycle of debt in which they are caught up in.
Citing an issue, which has persisted throughout the years, Karunaratne said that farmers never make a profit as they can never sell their produce at a price that would cover the cost of production.
Farmers bear the cost of production, but are unable to market it for a price which would bring them profit. Subsequently, as they have no alternative but to sell it, they sell it for a much lesser price than is fair to themselves, he said.
"They take loans in order to cultivate their farms, and then more loans to pay it back because what they make from sales doesn't cover costs. They become entangled in an unbreakable web of debt. It's no wonder that people starve; sometimes they can't bear the hardships of life and they resort to committing suicide. Mothers attempt to kill themselves along with their children, and this is when you hear stories of women jumping into wells and in front of oncoming trains while holding onto their infants," he added.
While the government provides Samurdhi allowances to most farmers, this is not enough for their sustenance. As they are bereft of decent and regular meals, they fall victim to many diseases, especially kidney-related diseases. Karunaratne highlighted that over 400,000 farmers in the North-Central Province alone were afflicted with kidney diseases, while many of the children and pregnant mothers are malnourished.
(Pix by Ruchira Senaratne)
