Ten-year-old Malki is too excited to stay in bed.

She’s up an hour before her two sisters and two brothers so that she can scrape some bright red gloss off her fingernails.

Today is her first day back at school and she wants to be spotless.

But her siblings must stay at home – her family can only afford to send her.Six months ago, Sri Lanka was in the eye of the storm for its worst economic crisis since independence.While calm has largely returned to the island nation, the full impact of mass unemployment and dramatic price rises is now visible among many families.

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–  By Ishara Danasekara & Tom Donkin

(BBC World Service)