Gammadda - Our journey to bring the forgotten into light

Colombo (News1st) - The Gammadda door-to-door teams continued their journey in search of finding the voiceless and forgotten. Our Gammadda teams visited the locals in the Puttalam, Jaffna and Badulla districts. The Wadiya village in the Eluwan Kulama Ganga area, adjacent to the Wilpattu forest reserve,  whose main source of income is earned through fishing, face several difficulties, of which not having a proper pricing mechanism to determine the price of fish, tops the list. The daily struggles of these villagers seem to have no end. They are deprived of clean drinking water and compelled to consume brine water. Adding to their difficulties, these villagers claim that their village has been marked as a reserved area, prompting the concerns of losing their homes. The villagers of Eluwan Kulama do not wish for luxury. The only request is for clean drinking water to quench their thirst. The main problem for the locals in the Mohoththu Warama village in Puttalam is the dilapidated roads they use for their daily commute. Locals of this poor village have no other option than to travel in boats to reach their destination. Our teams visited the Gange Wadiya, Kalpitiya and Eluwankulama villages today. Ridmaliyadda Kalu kale Uwathenna is a village with no entry road. The women in this village have unanimously decided to bid farewell to their dreams of entering motherhood. It is very hard for them to live, so the mothers have decided to use birth control and only have 2 to 3 children. The only way to reach these people required us to travel a total distance of 10 km by foot. They had settled in this village 70 years ago. Although this village used to have thousands of families now there are only 60 families left. Expectant mothers have been taken to hospital in a tractor. Kalu Kale is a dark village. This village does not have a power supply either. They do not have access to a television, a radio and as such are completely cut off from the rest of the world. The children in this village have never seen a computer in their life. Another Gammedda team visited the people in the Killinochchi District. The main issue faced by the residents of, Kawdathimurei, Mandaitheevu, Valanai, Punkudutheevuis the lack of drinking water. These people have to pay for the water that they drink. 1 litre is purchased at Rs 2 not because they have the money to do that but because they are not left with any other option. These roads are inundated when it rains here. These people request that this road be renovated.