Help us to raise funds for Jemila, Suthan & Family

Jermila lives in the village of Irupalai in a shack made of tin and coconut leaves. Her house is situated on a piece of government land on the edge of a football field. She is an illegal squatter on this land and has been asked to move to another place but she has nowhere to go. She has lived there for 8 years. Her husband is in prison and she works as a day labourer packing Ayurvedic medicine three days a week for which she earns 1,000 Rupees per day. Her work starts at 9.00am and finishes at 5.00pm, which means that her children are alone at home for long periods of the day. This income does not allow her to support her family even with their daily food needs. Jermila has 3 children; Sharmika who is 12, Suvin who is 11 and Sujani, 5 years old. Sujani recently joined Paalam School in Jaffna. Sharmika and Suvin attend Kopay Christian College. 

Sharmika suffers from renal disease and is in constant need of medical care, with regular visits to the hospital which Jermila cannot afford due to her low income, but also this takes her away from her daily work, which she needs to go to or she does not receive any payment for that day. This means that she will not be able to buy food for her family. Paalam Project (our sister charity) have been supporting Sharmika’s medical care. 

Paalam Project are also providing monthly food parcels of dry rations to assist Jermila’s family, so that they can have a degree of food security. 

A plot of land was recently allocated by Paalam Project to Jermila’s family and all necessary documentation is in progress to enable the house build work to begin. This work includes the outworking of surveying plans, writing of deeds and government building planning permission. Meanwhile the building of a well needs to be carried out so that Jermila and her family can be moved onto the Paalam Project land. This will give Jermila’s family some stability and they can begin to build a fence around the property with coconut leaves for greater security. 

With the money we raise, our team will be able to paint the house, inside and out, pay for electricity to be installed and buy furniture for the family.  They currently have no furniture. 

Please give all you can to help us raise the funds to help this family have the house they have been dreaming of. Thank you so much!

Sarah & Team