Stories from Ambagamuwa Area Development Program
Mr. Pushparajan’s Story
Mr. Pushparajan has been married to Parameswary for six years. The couple has two children – a six-year-old girl and a three-year-old boy. Mr. Pushparajan works as a tailor and his wife supports their business, which is run out of their home.
Before Mr. Pushparajan joined the MenCare program two years ago, he used to drink and smoke excessively. He used violence against Parameswary and their children when they disagreed with him. He did not participate in feeding the children or helping them with their homework, and he believed it was his wife’s responsibility to cook, carry out household chores, and take care of the children.
The MenCare program led to a transformation in Mr. Pushparajan’s attitudes and behaviors toward his family. He learned the importance of nonviolence in his relationship with his wife and children, and he adopted positive, violence-free communication strategies to resolve conflicts. In addition to sharing household decision-making, childcare, and domestic responsibilities with Parameswary, Mr. Pushparajan also learned to share financial decision-making with his wife, and together they reduced unnecessary expenditures and increased savings.
Through these changes, Mr. Pushparajan has found happiness and satisfaction with his family at home, improved his relationship with his friends and neighbors, and become a positive role model for others in the community to follow. Indeed, the majority of the other fathers in Mr. Pushparajan’s MenCare group have made similar changes, he says, indicating the success of the program.
