arnaudlegrand on DeviantArthttps://www.deviantart.com/arnaudlegrand/art/Sri-Lanka-refugee-camp-7-41652098arnaudlegrand

Deviation Actions

arnaudlegrand's avatar

Sri Lanka : refugee camp 7

Published:
14.6K Views

Description

After the tsunami 2004, the Sri Lankan army gathered survivors of totally devasted areas in temporary camps settled by non govermental organizations close to the capital, Colombo. Two weeks after the tsunami, this government forbade adoption, even from Sri Lankans couples, in order to prevent sexual tourism. Almost two years after, one thousand people live ressourceless in wooden hutments and share a single tap in this camp located 1 km south of Colombo. Four hundred of them are children and orphans abandoned to themselves, suffering from malnutrition and poor hygiene. In spite of receiving more than 130 million euros of international subsidies, the Sri Lankan government has not done anything so far for these people, except moving them hundreds of kilometers away from their village.

Some of these kids are also suffering from psychological trauma and do not speak neither communicate at all. Many of these abandoned children, without any security nor protection, are kidnapped and then forced to be child soldiers by the LTTE rebels leading the civil war against the goverment in the north of the country (summer 2006).

Canon EOS 50, 28mm, f/4,5, Kodak Tmax 100, scan from a neg.

series:
[link]
[link]
[link]
[link]
[link]
[link]
[link]
Image size
894x600px 392.37 KB
Make
NORITSU KOKI
Model
QSS-32_33
© 2006 - 2024 arnaudlegrand
Comments136
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
MekaMouse's avatar
:star::star::star::star::star-half: Overall
:star::star::star::star::star: Vision
:star::star::star::star::star-half: Originality
:star::star::star::star::star: Technique
:star::star::star::star::star: Impact

What an amazing series. I mean just wow.
I first saw the one that was a daily deviation.
Saying that it caught my eye right away.
The black and white picture still has so much life in it, and I caught a few tears in my eyes.

This photo shows such joy and freedom despite the sadness of the situation (like the daily deviation suggests of the other one). The smiles on the children's faces are genuine despite being orphaned and abandoned by their government to be enslaved as child soldiers. Sadness reigns especially since most of these children will not see an end to the civil war they live in.

What an amazing way to be caught in the middle of your eyes opening. You truly show a way to wake everyone up from the blindfolded society we live in. Much like "Craig Kielburger" founder of the "Free the children" foundation and co-founder of the "We Day" currently being hosted throughout Canada. Photo is worth 1000 words right?