Dinithi constantly worries for Oshani’s safety as she grows up in an unsafe neighbourhood. With no proper toilet and bathroom of their own, the family uses a open bathing area behind the house. The lack of adequate sanitation facilities makes the family even more susceptible to various illnesses and diseases. Each year as the monsoon approaches Dinithi shudders in fear for the safety of her family. The five members of the family all share a small 150 sq.ft. room, and all sleep on the floor. During times of heavy rains, they have no safe and dry place to sleep. Oshani tries hard to keep her books safe from the rain and the enclosed space which lacks adequate ventilation and lighting, is especially dangerous for Oveesha who is just a baby.
The COVID19 lockdown has pushed Dinithi and Dushantha further into poverty, as they are unable to earn any money during this time. Negombo being identified as a High-Risk Area, Dushantha has been unable to go to work for nearly 6 weeks due to the indefinite curfew that has been imposed by the Government. At first even though the Fibreglass factory he works at offered him half-month salary in the month of March, they have informed him that he will not be receiving a salary in April. Today, they have exhausted all their options and are unable to provide even one meal a day for the children.
Dinithi longs for a time when she will be able to put her children to sleep without the fear of insects and reptiles crawling into their little shelter. She yearns to give Oshani and Oveesha every opportunity she was not fortunate enough to receive growing up, especially a sound education. Without a safe place to call home, a safe place to study and play or adequate sanitation facilities, Dinithi is uncertain about her children’s future. Dushantha and Dinithi will stop at nothing to provide little Oshani who dreams of becoming a doctor one day, the ladder she deserves to a brighter future.
