A home for a family in need

Although having a home is something many of us take for granted, there are countless people in the world struggling to find a roof over their heads. Somalin Nona from Panadura was one such person, living in a dilapidated home that was slowly crumbling around her, this grandmother who was still providing for her family was at her wits end.

Somalin Nona’s husband had contracted from filarial and even after he was cured, complications meant he never regained full strength in his legs and therefore was too weak to work. The aging couple live with their daughter who is mentally handicapped, their son-in-law and disabled granddaughter.

Somalin Nona and her son-in-law are the only breadwinners in the family, and she works part time cleaning houses while he is a casual labourer, finding work wherever and whenever they can. Together, the money they can scrape together can barely feed the family.

Making matters worse, the rented home they lived at was in terrible disrepair and falling apart, with the roof caving in and the walls and floors badly waterlogged and slowly giving way. Even then, they could not afford to move away.

Seeing their plight, the priest from the nearby Madavilgoda Temple granted them 10 perches of land from temple property to build a small home. This is when we encountered Somalin Nona and hearing her heartrending tale, we had the privilege of helping her secure the safety of a home.

Over the years, the Foundation of Goodness has been able to provide homes for many impoverished and struggling families, including the construction and renovation of 1,000 homes in the aftermath of the Indian Ocean Tsunami. Sometimes we find people living in very dangerous or desperate situations and on such occasions we do our best to help them however we can, to secure the safety of a roof over their heads.

The construction of Somalin Nona’s house was undertaken as a personal project by FoG Founder Kushil Gunasekera, and it was begun to mark the occasion of his 60th birthday. Upon the completion and handover of the house which has two rooms, a kitchen, bathroom and living room, the Madavilgoda Temple priest and villagers all gathered at their home for an almsgiving and blessings ceremony prior to the family moving in.

We hope this  gives Somalin Nona  and her family some measure of relief, which can make a big difference in their  life of struggle and hardship.

16th March 2017