Alcohol stifles family peace
in Mullivaikkal
By Zahrah Imtiaz –
Ceylon Today – 21/10/2014
"Krishna
Anandan," she said as she proudly introduced herself and welcomed us to
her compound; a notice board with "Rs 350 per kilo of broiler
chicken" written on it stood outside her gate.
Anandan is a resident of Mullivaikkal West, the village where the last stages of the war took place and though the people are doing their best to get life back on track, the dark clouds of the war haunt them when they see bunkers that are in their gardens during the war. The exchange of war stories during a casual chat among neighbours is quite common in the area, as common as looking over their shoulder to check who was listening to their conversation.
Anandan however, says that she is a simple housewife who manages a small chicken farm. "My husband works as a casual driver at a construction site close by," she said. While her husband held a day job, she was forced to become a small scale entrepreneur to make ends meet. Soon she learnt that she had a knack for business and she has managed to become the only broiler farmer in her neighbourhood.
The chicken sheds needed for her broilers were built in her compound at a cost of Rs 150,000 by various NGOs and INGOs operating in the area. The initial capital to purchase the broilers and other capital expenditure was acquired through a micro-finance loan given to her by the Prime Grameen Bank. The NGOs had also given her two goats for the production and sale of goat milk. She however, added, "People in this area do not drink goat milk, so we have no market for that. The two goats have become four now; I will fatten them up and sell it for meat soon."
High interest rates
For a small business like hers, micro-finance is a blessing and the only option as those who have no collateral to offer do not qualify for traditional loan schemes. At present, the micro-finance loan has turned into more of a curse than a blessing as the extraordinarily high interest rates which are charged by the scheme make it almost impossible to run a profitable business.
"My first loan at Prime Grameen was for Rs 25,000 and they gave it to me at an interest rate of 29%. Once I paid that back, I applied for a second loan of Rs 50,000 at the same interest rate. I have also taken another loan from AFC micro-finance for Rs 40,000 at an interest rate of 25%," she explained.
When asked why the micro-finance schemes which were supposed to help the poor charged unrealistic interest rates, she said, "There were many people offering loans to us after the war. We were ignorant of the various schemes and desperate for money to start a business. It is quite hard to keep up with all the payments every month but we do our best."
All loan recipients are given 50 weeks to pay back the loan.
Anandan is a resident of Mullivaikkal West, the village where the last stages of the war took place and though the people are doing their best to get life back on track, the dark clouds of the war haunt them when they see bunkers that are in their gardens during the war. The exchange of war stories during a casual chat among neighbours is quite common in the area, as common as looking over their shoulder to check who was listening to their conversation.
Anandan however, says that she is a simple housewife who manages a small chicken farm. "My husband works as a casual driver at a construction site close by," she said. While her husband held a day job, she was forced to become a small scale entrepreneur to make ends meet. Soon she learnt that she had a knack for business and she has managed to become the only broiler farmer in her neighbourhood.
The chicken sheds needed for her broilers were built in her compound at a cost of Rs 150,000 by various NGOs and INGOs operating in the area. The initial capital to purchase the broilers and other capital expenditure was acquired through a micro-finance loan given to her by the Prime Grameen Bank. The NGOs had also given her two goats for the production and sale of goat milk. She however, added, "People in this area do not drink goat milk, so we have no market for that. The two goats have become four now; I will fatten them up and sell it for meat soon."
High interest rates
For a small business like hers, micro-finance is a blessing and the only option as those who have no collateral to offer do not qualify for traditional loan schemes. At present, the micro-finance loan has turned into more of a curse than a blessing as the extraordinarily high interest rates which are charged by the scheme make it almost impossible to run a profitable business.
"My first loan at Prime Grameen was for Rs 25,000 and they gave it to me at an interest rate of 29%. Once I paid that back, I applied for a second loan of Rs 50,000 at the same interest rate. I have also taken another loan from AFC micro-finance for Rs 40,000 at an interest rate of 25%," she explained.
When asked why the micro-finance schemes which were supposed to help the poor charged unrealistic interest rates, she said, "There were many people offering loans to us after the war. We were ignorant of the various schemes and desperate for money to start a business. It is quite hard to keep up with all the payments every month but we do our best."
All loan recipients are given 50 weeks to pay back the loan.
Once the war had ended, the family had to look for new housing in addition to looking for new ways to make a living. The Indian Housing Scheme had given the Anandans' Rs 550,000 to rebuild the house in 2013. The sum however, was not sufficient to complete the house and they had to pump in as additional Rs 300,000 from their own savings to complete it.
Anandan who is GCE A/L qualified reiterates that she does what she can to earn a bit of extra money and adds that while her broiler business is not hugely profitable, it is not a loss making venture.
Other women
"How is your community doing?" Anandan was asked. She looked up with a sigh and said, "Before the war, only old men used to drink alcohol, now even the young drink. Even those who live at home with their parents drink at home. Teachers in schools drink and smoke with their students. Some teachers are scared of their students as they think they would be beaten up."
There has been a significant increase in the number of breweries in the area along with number of cases of domestic abuse. Many are not sure whether to blame the alcohol or war for the increase in the violence against women.
Women's Council
As a solution to the problems, the village has established a Women's Council to provide the women in the village with financial, technical and emotional support.
"We used to have 193 women in our council but many did not turn up for meetings regularly so we expelled those who were not too interested. We now have 105 women in the Council," Anandan proudly stated.
The Women's Council has 56 women who are either widows or women who have been abandoned by their husbands soon after the war. She said that women headed households were quite common in the area as many marriages broke after the war.
"As the war moved from one area to another, we had people in war affected areas moving into safer areas. The men who were displaced married women in the areas in which they were temporarily settled in. Once the war ended, they left their newly married wives here and moved back to their home towns," she explained.
In other cases, the war had a devastating impact on family structure and many men took to drinking. Anandan summarized the issue with, "Our men have no jobs, and they are frustrated. So they drink and beat their wives."
She also said the educated children in the community had no jobs as those from the South had taken all the white collar jobs in the area. "Locals are only given low skilled labour," she said.
A case in point is Krishanjini, her daughter, a 23 year old girl with an IT diploma and a temporary job.
"I failed my GCE A/Ls because I was living at Menik Farm at the time of the exam. Having failed the exam, I followed a computer course. A company close by hires me for some temporary work from time to time," said Krishanjini.
When Anandan was asked if the residents in the area were Samurdhi recipients, she stated that the Samurdhi made people lazy. "We need to be given work, not handouts," she emphasized.
She further explained, "When we were in Menik Farm, they gave us stamps for our rations. This made a lot of people lazy and dependent on stamps. Not many wanted to work after that."
For the small village of Mullivaikkal West, the Anandans are managing well compared to their neighbours who are still struggling to earn a living or are dealing with family issues. The community as a whole however, has far to go.
What is peace?
As Anandan ended her story, she was asked, "How do you define peace?"
"Peace is when a man or woman is free to do what she or he wants," she replied with a smile.
"What is the definition of development according to you?" she was then asked.
"We will have development when our daily needs are met," she said.
Krishanjini's definition of peace was, "We will have a peaceful environment when our fathers are good and do not indulge in vices."
Anandan's daughter defined development as "freedom and opportunity to stand on her own feet".
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