Picking up their lives from picture to picture

Pottery workers are more confident, fisherfolk have received boats and nets and they are back at sea. Coir weavers, small shop owners, woodcutters, farmers, as well as schoolchildren and even the disabled have come a long way in restarting and rebuilding their lives after the tragedy of December 26, 2004.

These positive aspects have been captured by the affected community themselves. ‘Through Our Eyes’, an exhibition of photographs taken exclusively by the tsunami-affected people across Sri Lanka, is being held from December 21 to 31 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Girls’ Friendly Society, 58 Ananda Coomaraswamy Mw, Colombo 3 after which it will travel to areas such as Galle, Hambantota, Tangalle, Ampara etc. The event which is organized by Action Aid in partnership with communities and 26 local organizations depicts the daily lives and accomplishments as well as the challenges facing the tsunami community.

“The unique feature about this exhibition is that the pictures have been taken by the people themselves and not by professional photographers. We just taught them how to use a camera and how to take the pictures. The rest was all their effort,” said Jacobo Quintanilla, Communications Team Leader, Action Aid International Sri Lanka.