{"id":40712,"date":"2022-07-05T00:40:08","date_gmt":"2022-07-05T00:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/07\/05\/sri-lanka-i-cant-afford-milk-for-my-babies\/"},"modified":"2022-07-05T00:40:08","modified_gmt":"2022-07-05T00:40:08","slug":"sri-lanka-i-cant-afford-milk-for-my-babies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/07\/05\/sri-lanka-i-cant-afford-milk-for-my-babies\/","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lanka: ‘I can\u2019t afford milk for my babies’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The smell hits you first – freshly cooked rice, lentils and spinach served in ladles from steaming pots. <\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Dozens of families — including mothers with babies — are lining up with plates to get a portion of what is likely to be their only meal of the day. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“We are here because we are hungry,” says Chandrika Manel, mother of four. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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As she kneads a ball of rice with her hands, mixing it with the lentils and spinach before feeding it to one of her children, she explains that even buying bread is a struggle. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“There are times when I [give them] Milk and rice, but we don’t cook vegetables. They’re too expensive.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Depleted foreign exchange reserves and rising inflation have devastated Sri Lanka’s economy in recent months. And President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has been accused of exacerbating a crisis sparked by the pandemic and shrinking tourism. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But now Sri Lanka is on the brink of a humanitarian crisis, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) told the BBC. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The organization noted that 70% of the country’s families have reduced their groceries since the beginning of the year, and stocks of fuel and essential medicines are also rapidly running out. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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This is Ms Manel’s first visit to a community kitchen when she found her options were dwindling: “The cost of living is so high, we borrow to survive.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The kitchen is a month old – Pastor Moses Akash started this in a church hall in Colombo after meeting a single mother who ate a jackfruit for three days.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“We’re getting people who haven’t eaten a second plate of rice in the last four months,” says Pastor Moses. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He estimates that the number of people queuing for food has increased from 50 to well over 250 a day. This is not surprising given that food prices in Sri Lanka rose by 80% in June alone. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“I see a lot of children in particular, most of them are malnourished,” he says. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
    \n
  • “Living in my car for two days to buy gas”<\/li>\n
  • What is behind the fuel shortage in Sri Lanka?<\/li>\n
  • No medicine for children in a collapsing health care system<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
    \n

    Also standing in line with her three young children is Sahna, a pregnant 34-year-old who goes by only her first name. She is due in September and worried about the future. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    “My children are unhappy. They are suffering in every possible way. I can’t even afford a packet of biscuits or milk for my babies.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    Sahna’s husband, who is a laborer, earns just $10 (\u00a38.20) a week to support the whole family. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    \u201cOur leaders live better lives. If their children live happily, why can’t my children?\u201d she asks. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    It’s supposed to get worse by the time Sahna’s child is born. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    The mayor of Colombo recently said the capital would only have enough food until September.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    Due to fuel and cooking gas shortages and daily power outages, families are unable to travel to buy fresh groceries or cook hot meals. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    \u201cFamilies can no longer buy what they used to buy. They reduce meals, they reduce nutritious foods. So we are definitely getting into a situation where malnutrition is a big problem,\u201d said Christian Skoog, UNICEF representative in Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    \u201cWe are trying to avoid a humanitarian crisis. We’re not at infant deaths yet, which is good, but we urgently need support to avoid that.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    Unicef \u200b\u200bhas asked for urgent financial help to treat thousands of children suffering from acute malnutrition and to provide basic health care to a million others.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    The rate of acute malnutrition could rise from 13% to 20%, with the number of severely malnourished children – currently 35,000 – doubling, says Dr. Renuka Jayatissa, President of the Sri Lanka Medical Nutrition Association.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    The crisis has bred a sense of solidarity, with people often relying on the kindness of strangers. But kindness and hope also become precious goods. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    dr Saman Kumara, of Castle Street Hospital in Colombo, says his patients – tiny newborns – would have been at great risk without the donors’ goodwill. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    He says his hospital is now “entirely dependent on donations” for essential medicines and equipment and has urged more donors to come forward as patients’ lives are at risk.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    Back in the communal kitchen, Chandrika is scooping the last bite of food into her son’s mouth. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    “My best days are over. But our children still have so much to do,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    “I don’t know what will happen when they grow up.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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