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| Sunday, 4 July 2004 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Living on the fringe : Begging for their children by Umangi de Mel An overcrowded street, heavy traffic jams, the ear-splitting din of impatient buses tooting their horns... Beggars on either side of the road, stretching their hands, whining a litany of want is a common sight.
The little boy, whose name turns out to be Saman, lives with his 53 year old father Ratnayake Mudiyansalage Dissanayake, 40 year old mother Hettiarachchilege Sumana, and they have six siblings, Sujeewa (20), Suramya (17), Sunethra (12), Suranga (10) and Sumedha (07). Dissanayake, who it appears, never had regular employment married Sumana in '84. "I've been in love with my wife for the past 20 years. I never did her wrong. After the marriage, we moved in with her parents but unfortunately her mother passed away just as soon as we were settled there," says Dissanayake relenting to talk after much cajoling. "I don't like to talk to the papers because once they wrote lies about us and I'm scared that I'll lose the remaining kids as well," he explains his initial refusal. Sumana's father took another wife, who Dissanayake says brought bad luck to everybody else at home. "She never liked us, never wanted us around. We really don't know why she couldn't stick us...We don't hate her though," he says, adding that they had to leave the house after the father-in-law wrote all the property in his new wife's name. Having neither houses nor homes or brushes and combs, the two of them sought shelter in the streets with three kids. "Before we came to Kirulapone, we went to Ambilipitiya just to see if we could try and settle there but her step-mother was a real bad omen. Now we are at Kolambage's Mawatha, in Kirulapone. We stay near a shop, there's no house but we survive," they say. Dissanayake says that they come to Nugegoda during the day to beg for their living. "We've been here for more than 10 years now. We were here even before they built the 'Fab'. This place is like our home. My wife gave birth to our fourth kid near that wall," he points out to a wall nearby. They talk about 'life' near the 'Fab' with dejected acceptance. "It obviously isn't a bed of roses. Some people treat us as if we are beggars, they just scorn us and behave as if we're invisible but many who know us treat us really well. The family has no stable income, and are in the street because they have nowhere else to go..."I believe I'm probably paying for my sins, but I'm not a beggar," proclaims a proud Dissanayake, trying to silence the two small kids who start making a racket, and fight over some pebbles. While the father attends to them, Sumana joins the conversation, "The main reason why we are here is, our kids. When we first came here I had my own betel leaves business. Our kids were very small and we had to provide for them. I wanted all my children around, may be they were too small to be on the street, but I wanted them as much as they wanted me. But in '97 as a result of what the couple deem a petty misunderstanding, the family was taken to the Mirihana Police and from there, they to Gamsabha Junction. "Miraculously Ranjan Ramanayake who knew us so well, saw us there and bailed us out," she says.According to them three of their kids have been taken to homes for children. "In '98 the cops came for our kids. Accusing us of misbehaviour on the road, they took two of my daughters and a son. Suramya and Sunethra are at a home in Pamunuwa where they don't even get enough food. Suranga is at Gampaha. I miss my kids and I'd do anything to get them back," she says. The couple say they've paid the courts Rs. 3,200 but nothing has happened, so far. "The judge never listens to what we have to say. He only listens to the cops who have already labelled us bad. The children are our flesh and blood we have a right to them," they claim, charging that the cops, for some reason don't like the idea of them having custody of their kids. Grief-stricken, at the thought of her children, Sumana says. "All I want is my kids. I don't see why we should be separated, we somehow manage to feed them and get them clothed. Homes are for kids who don't have parents but ours do have their parents." People beg for many things, love, mercy, compassion, food and shelter but they beg for their kids. "Please help us get our kids back...we won't be on the street for long once we get them back. " We hope to leave this place and build or find ourselves a small house somewhere far away," pleads both Dissanayake and Sumana. |
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| Editorial | Security Produced by Lake House |
But a tiny brown face pressed against the glass walls of the fabulous 'Fab'
captures your attention. He watches as the with-it crowd indulge in the
sinfully rich fare the restaurant has to offer. A middle-aged woman takes
the little one back to 'home sweet home' which is an abandoned spot by the
roadside.
