Catalog

Tharuka: On Being Poor

By Mariam S. Pal (mpal@adb.org)
Economist (Social Development)

GRUELING LIVES: Tharuka and his family with their possessions-the clothes they wear and the bundle at their feet.

We met Tharuka and his family when we were at one of the houses in Hangiliella Village. He was with his wife and their two children, a 10-year-old daughter and a three-year-old son. Unless his wife had told us she was six months pregnant, we never would have known because she was so slim.

They had seen us walking along the irrigation channel while they were in the field. They ran after us because they thought we were foreigners coming with money-and that nobody had told them of our visit because they are the poorest people in the village.

Several months ago Tharuka, who has a fifth grade education, broke his hand in an accident. Since then, he has had difficulty finding work as an agricultural laborer. He has a small plot of land, but it is very stony and far from any water source. Tharuka tried to get work as a wage laborer in the town, but the town laborers chased him away.

He has been in debt ever since he broke his hand because he keeps on borrowing money from better-off villagers as advance payment for work. This keeps him in a constant state of poverty because, when he works, most of his money is held back to repay his debts. Of the Sri Lanka rupees (SLRs)150 he earns, SLRs80 is deducted, leaving him with very little to buy food.

The family typically eats two meals a day: usually rice with some vegetables. But during the "windy" season (May to August) they often do not have enough to eat. Whatever they have, the children eat first. He added that they are often sick from drinking dirty water.

At the end of our interview, we asked Tharuka if he had anything he would like to add. He did: "If somebody would help me find a job, I would worship that person for the rest of my life."

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