COWS A BETTER LIVELIHOOD THAN MANUAL LABOUR, SAYS 75-YEAR-OLD SINNAMMA
Sinnamma and her four adult children are survivors of Sri Lanka's ongoing civil conflict of the past two decades, as well as survivors of the Indian Ocean tsunami which claimed their house and all their modest possessions. They are also a family that ActionAid has identified as in greatest need of support to help rebuild their lives.
A widow since 1986 when her husband died of snakebite, 75-year-old Sinnamma and her children have been continuously moving back and forth from Manikkamadu village in eastern Sri Lanka to camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs), as dictated by the volatile and often violent security situation. At Karativ camp, along with hundreds of other IDPs, they lived in tents under poor living conditions, often without access to drinking water or sanitary facilities. Currently the Divisional Secretariat has relocated Sinnamma and her children back to Manikkamadu village.
Struggling alone to feed her children, Sinnamma used to eke a meager living by cooking hoppers (traditional noodles) and selling them in the village, as well as by toiling as a manual labourer. Now with the support of ActionAid's local partner Foundation of Rural Economic Development (FORED), who last year provided her with a cow, a baby calf and a house with a full kitchen and toilet, Sinnamma is able to supplement her income by selling milk, earning 6,000 rupees (about USD 60) per month. Earlier this year her cow gave birth to another two calves.
"My plan is to have two more cows. Then I do not need any other job to survive", said Sinnamma, who in her old age has happily relinquished her physically demanding second job as a manual labourer in favour of milking cows. "I have already requested two more cows from FORED, which I hope they will give to me."/p>
FORED is working in eastern Sri Lanka with extremely poor and excluded conflict-affected and since 2004 tsunami-affected communities. Their programmes focus on community development, for example, this year they have built 32 semi-permanent houses, alongside building peace and national unity through targeting students and young political leaders. Other activities include an awareness raising campaign on Violence Against Women, workshops on nutrition and family planning, trainings on psychosocial care, and a micro-finance scheme for livelihood support.
"It was possible for me to rebuild my life because of this support from FORED," said Sinnamma, who still cares for her two youngest daughters, Komala (23) and Kosola (20), and one son Thangan (25), who works as a manual labourer, while the eldest daughter is married and living with her husband's family. "I think our lives have been improved. Earlier even we did not have a toilet, now we have a house with a toilet and other basic facilities."
