A portrait of a young boy who lives in a school campus nearby, walking in the empty streets of Kayts, Jaffna.
Many children in Kayts were babies when the war broke out in August 2006 with the Sri Lankan military and the Tamil Tigers military rebels, their parents who survived still recall the terror and nightmares of the civil war where they lost family members, friends and loved once.
Kayts, a small island off the coast of Jaffna seems like an old abandon cowboy town, with many empty homes damaged by the war, broken walls covered with trees and quiet dirt streets. Hundreds of families left their homes and fled to safer places.
The civil war in Jaffna lasted for over 20 years, which finally ended in 2006, a war of social discrimination, race and creed between the Sri Lankan government and the rebels Tamil Tigers. The famous Battle of Jaffna in 1995 and 2006 took thousands of lives and displaced many. Hundreds and thousands left Sri Lanka, as refugees to foreign soils, some never to come back to their home land.
Most Sri Lankan Tamils are Hindus. The city is home to number of educational institutions established during the colonial and post-colonial period. It is home to the popular Jaffna library that was burnt down by Sinhalese extremists. Many homes destroyed during the war still stand as abandoned buildings, semi broken structures and single walls.
I had an amazing week photographing the cultures here, post war history and meeting so many amazing people with a photo project called The Bicycle Revolution. Share to celebrate humanity and cultures.
Battle Of Jaffna | Sri Lanka
