COLOMBO -- On a Saturday evening, as rain lashed a grimy, working-class neighborhood in Sri Lanka's capital, a stream of women braved the storm to head into a Buddhist temple. They were not there to pray but to eat; since June 2022, the temple has served as a food relief station, providing what for many is their only meal of the day.
Among the women was Ediriweera Pattabandige Chamila. "This is our only meal for the day and we try to stretch it out for two days," the 43-year-old said, referring to the other mouths to feed at her nearby home -- two teenage sons and her husband. "We have really fallen ... so we now depend on this meal."
