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Raising two disabled children on love and RM500 a month

K Goomathi, who has spent years raising her children on her own, is determined to do everything she can to give them a good life.

Ahmad Sadiq Mohamad Sani

July 2, 2022 9:00 AM1 minute read

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K Goomathi covers her face with her hands as she recalls the long years of caring for her two disabled children on her own.

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Life is hard, but she still finds joy in her children, K Thiviyan (right) and K Daarshini, who have been disabled since birth.

Goomathi’s 13-year-old son, Thiviyan, has cerebral palsy and requires round-the-clock attention.

He can only eat soft food such as bread and rice, which Goomathi feeds him by hand.

After he finishes eating, she massages his hands and wrists which frequently cramp up.

Goomathi works hard to take care of her son, but to her, it is all worth it.

Unable to hold down a job outside of the house, Goomathi depends on the food she receives from kind-hearted neighbours and the monthly payments of RM500 from the welfare department.

Goomathi takes down metal plates from the kitchen to serve lunch for herself and her daughter.

They eat at the table in the living room, which is littered with Thiviyan’s medicine bottles and pills.

Goomathi’s daughter, Daarshini, eats her lunch while her mother takes care of Thiviyan. Daarshini is developmentally challenged, and attends a special class at a government school near her home.

In the afternoon, Goomathi leaves Thiviyan to rest on a mattress in front of the television and continues with the rest of her chores.

She hangs the laundry on a rusty clothesline set up in the porch area.

Meanwhile, Daarshini clears the table and does the dishes.

Goomathi is very proud of her family, including her oldest daughter, K Kirrosni, who at 20 years old is attending a local community college in Lenggong, Perak.