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Mother will children at clinic

Story

"I looked up and saw trees falling near my neighbour’s house up the hill. My neighbours died"

Sudemala and her family were forced to leave all their possessions behind once the flash floods reached her home.

Incessant rains across Sri Lanka during May 2017 affected over half a million people in seven districts. Most affected was the Ratnapura district where over 20,000 people faced flash floods.

“When the flood came, my husband was feeding my eldest child and the baby was asleep in the bed. I was outside of the house. My mother was brushing her teeth outside the back of the house. I looked up and saw trees falling near my neighbour’s house up the hill. My neighbours died.

I couldn’t take any possessions – I just had to run for my life. My husband took my younger child. They were all screaming.

Since then, I have had my children checked here in the Ministry of Health clinic; their weight, height and nutrition.

We had two houses on the one block of land, but we will only get compensation for one house. We can’t live in a tent with a baby so are currently renting a house with our own money, but for a while my mother and father slept in this clinic.”

Stories

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country

Sri Lanka

Subject

Emergencies

Related Member Association

Family Planning Association of Sri Lanka