Soup kitchens feed Sri Lanka’s poor amid bleak economic crisis | Inquirer News

Soup kitchens feed Sri Lanka’s poor amid bleak economic crisis

/ 11:04 AM July 27, 2022

Soup kitchens feed Sri Lanka’s poor amid bleak economic crisis

Aru de Silva, 36, a volunteer, distributes tokens for free food inside a community kitchen at a church, amid the country’s economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, July 25, 2022. REUTERS

COLOMBO — With no fuel and no money for food, H. G. Indrani and her family of nine trudged for an hour to a community kitchen in Colombo, in hopes of finding a simple vegetarian meal.

Rampant food inflation and chronic shortages of cooking gas and petrol are making daily life a battle for millions in the midst of Sri Lanka’s worst economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1948.

Article continues after this advertisement

“There is no income,” said Indrani, one of hundreds queuing in the midday sun at a makeshift kitchen run by a church. “There is no food most of the time, we have been suffering a lot.”

FEATURED STORIES

The price of a kilogram of rice had risen to 250 rupees, from 90 rupees six months ago, she said.

“There is no food at home,” the 57-year-old added. “We will have to suffer more. We only want to eat, to survive.”

Article continues after this advertisement
Soup kitchens feed Sri Lanka’s poor amid bleak economic crisis

People eat at a community kitchen while others stand in a queue to receive food inside a church, amid the country’s economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, July 25, 2022. REUTERS

Two dozen volunteers boil rice, dice onions and scrape the flesh from coconuts as they cook over open fires due to the shortage of gas in the space on the flat roof of the church near Sri Lanka’s parliament.

Article continues after this advertisement

“The need is so great,” said Akila Alles, the chief operating officer of the Bethany Christian Life Center, which set up kitchens at 12 of its churches and served food to about 1,500 people each day since June.

Article continues after this advertisement

“Inflation is so high people can’t afford to eat. Without gas people can’t cook, and without transport people can’t work.”

Conditions are grim enough that more than 5 million Sri Lankans have reported being forced to skip meals so as to get by, the World Food Program said this week on Twitter.

Article continues after this advertisement
Soup kitchens feed Sri Lanka’s poor amid bleak economic crisis

Moses Akash De Silva prepares food inside a community kitchen at a church, amid the country’s economic crisis in Colombo, Sri Lanka, July 25, 2022. REUTERS

Months of anti-government protests that came to a head this month after thousands stormed government buildings, bringing down former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, have crossed religious and ethnic lines in the diverse Indian Ocean nation.

Catholic nuns and Buddhist monks have been a regular sight at protests, and communities have worked together to satisfy the growing humanitarian need.

Donations have come from as far as China and Vietnam, with a Buddhist monk dropping off a large donation of rice at the church.

“Sometimes people who come here have nothing at all,” said a volunteer cook, K. D. Irani, as he stirred a cauldron of dal, or lentils.

“I am 66, but I have never seen a crisis like this in my life. We are doing this for the love of the people.”

RELATED STORIES

Shortages leave bankrupt Sri Lanka’s hospitals empty

Sri Lanka’s turmoil explained

Sri Lanka’s political crisis: What happens next?

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

Subscribe to our daily newsletter

By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy.

How a band of activists helped bring down Sri Lanka’s government

TAGS: Poverty, Sri Lanka

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

Subscribe to our newsletter!

By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy.

© Copyright 1997-2024 INQUIRER.net | All Rights Reserved

This is an information message

We use cookies to enhance your experience. By continuing, you agree to our use of cookies. Learn more here.