Global Press Journal Connections: The World in Photos

Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Sahayanathan Punitharasa measures materials for the foundation of a new house in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. He works on a contract basis and receives 2,500 Sri Lankan rupees ($14) per day.

Photo by Vijayatharsiny Thinesh

Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Vairan Neelam climbs a palmyra tree to obtain toddy, the sap from the tree, in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. People who do this work must obtain licenses in order to be able to sell the toddy. Neelam has been extracting and selling toddy for the past eight years.

Photo by Vijayatharsiny Thinesh

Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Kandiah Thaya cleans off dust on onions by trampling them on the farm where he works in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. After they are cleaned, he takes them to the market to sell.

Photo by Vijayatharsiny Thinesh

Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Worshippers celebrate the Theertha festival at Savalappidy Kanthaswamy Murugan Temple in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. The ritual occurring in the temple pond is performed for Hindu deity Murugan by the temple’s priests, in order to bring protection for the people and their village.

Photo by Vijayatharsiny Thinesh

Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Sellakandu Vimalanathan fishes on a Sunday near a beach in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. Even though Sundays are a holiday for the fishing industry, he goes out to catch fish to feed his family.

Photo by Vijayatharsiny Thinesh

Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Vairavan Santhalingam (left) and his wife Santhalingam Leela watch their grandchildren in the courtyard of their house in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. They moved here to build a new life after being displaced by Sri Lanka’s civil war, which ended in 2009. More than eight people live together in the small property.

Photo by Poongulaly Balagobalan

Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Selvaratnam Sanjayan waters and sets boundaries around the onion field that he owns in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. He has cultivated onions for the last five years.

Photo by Vijayatharsiny Thinesh

Vavuniya, Sri Lanka

Kathiramalai Vellaiyamma weeds grass and plucks vegetables in her small home garden in Vavuniya, a city in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province. She makes her living selling the produce after returning from a refugee camp in India, where she fled during Sri Lanka’s civil war.

Photo by Thayalini Indrakularasa

Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Trainers at a clay pottery training center in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, paint clay statues of Subramania Bharathiyar, a Tamil poet and political leader, and Mahatma Gandhi to be sold at shops. They say that these items are popular with tourists.

Photo by Vijayatharsiny Thinesh

Naranthanai, Sri Lanka

Rasakumar Yathusa, 7, curls up inside an old tire while she plays with friends in Naranthanai, a village on Sri Lanka’s northern Jaffna peninsula.

Photo by Pashna Alistan

Kodikamam, Sri Lanka

Appaiah Rasikumar makes furniture in his shop in Kodikamam, a small town on Sri Lanka’s northern coast. He earns about 3,000 to 4,000 Sri Lankan rupees ($17 to $22) per day selling tables, chairs and cupboards, which he says is enough for him to lead a happy life.

Photo by Vijayatharsiny Thinesh

Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Thirunavukarasu Ambalavanar, 75, examines the palms of two women who came to him for predictions about their futures at the Selva Sannithi Murugan temple, a Hindu temple in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. Ambalavanar, an astrologer, has been offering this service for 29 years.

Photo by Vijayatharsiny Thinesh

Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Manavan Jesudas, 66, repairs a fish net in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. He says his age prevents him from fishing for a living, so he depends on repairing nets for his livelihood instead.

Photo by Vijayatharsiny Thinesh

Adampan, Sri Lanka

Justin Pathinathan welds metal in his workshop in Adampan, a town in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province. Although Pathinathan has been a welder for 22 years, he worries that the job could affect his eyesight poorly.

Photo by Vetrichelvi Chandrakala

Kodikamam, Sri Lanka

Children dance karakattam, an ancient folk dance traditionally performed with water pots balanced on the head, during a festival at a temple in Kodikamam, Sri Lanka.

Photo by Vijayatharsiny Thinesh

Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Manjula Swarnapali, a portrait artist, uses a cellphone photo as a reference for his latest work in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. Swarnapali lives in Kandy, a city in central Sri Lanka, but travels around the country to practice and sell his art.

Photo by Vijayatharsiny Thinesh

Kodikamam, Sri Lanka

Musicians play the melam, a percussion instrument, and the nadaswaram, a wind instrument, during a festival in Kodikamam, a town in northern Sri Lanka.

Photo by Vijayatharsiny Thinesh

Adampan, Mannar, Sri Lanka

Karuppaiya Suthakaran (from left), Velayutham Nathan and Varnasooriya Casoon mix cement to use as the foundation of a new home in Adampan, Mannar, Sri Lanka.

Photo by Vetrichelvi Chandrakala

Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Johnson Arun, 15, plays football with other neighborhood children near the beach in Gurunagar, a village in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. The children, who live in a residential area nearby, play football here every evening after school has ended for the day.

Photo by Vijayatharsiny Thinesh

Adampan, Mannar, Sri Lanka

On the main road of Adampan in Mannar, Sri Lanka, Stanistan Stanislas (left to right), Sahayanathan Anojan and Uthayakumar Vimal weigh paddy and load it onto a lorry to take to a rice mill. Farmers harvest their crops twice a year during the monsoon seasons. The period from May to September is known as Yala, and the period from December to March is called Maha.

Photo by Vetrichelvi Chandrakala

Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Sellaiah Velayutham, 72, uses traditional methods to iron clothes at his laundry in Koiyaththoddam, a village in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. Velayutham has been pressing in this way since he was 16. He uses an old-style iron that is heated with coals.

Photo by Poongulaly Balagobalan

Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Sivam Mercy, 14, sets nets to catch shrimp at Pannai Beach in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. Helping his father, Sivam sets the nets in the evening and hauls in the shrimp in the morning.

Photo by Vijayatharsiny Thinesh

Vavuniya, Sri Lanka

Rajeenthiran Jonsan, 6; Pratheepkumar Thushipriyanthanan, 6; Aswini Anton, 6; and Arsatha Aroos, 5, display their crafts to an audience of parents during an exhibition at Ath Thayba Pre-school in Vavuniya, Sri Lanka. Students were taught artistic and creative ways to recycle waste materials.

Photo by Thayalini Indrakularasa

Inuvil, Sri Lanka

Karunakaran Akshayan (left), Thanaventhan Kishotharan and Rajeevan Vaishalini, all 5 years old, dress up as Hindu gods for a performance at their preschool, Ilanthondar Sabha, in Inuvil, a village in northern Sri Lanka. The children are Montessori students. The Montessori method is an approach to teaching that is activity-based and more hands-on for the students.

Photo by Vijayatharsiny Thinesh

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Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Vavuniya, Sri Lanka

Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Naranthanai, Sri Lanka

Kodikamam, Sri Lanka

Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Adampan, Sri Lanka

Kodikamam, Sri Lanka

Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Kodikamam, Sri Lanka

Adampan, Mannar, Sri Lanka

Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Adampan, Mannar, Sri Lanka

Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Jaffna, Sri Lanka

Vavuniya, Sri Lanka

Inuvil, Sri Lanka