Financial Times

Tsunami victim looks after himself
The site of the tsunami train tragedy at Telwatte, near Galle, six months after, has become a “tourist attraction” for both locals and foreigners. Seizing an opportunity for self-employment, Manjula, who himself is a survivor of the tsunami from the area, is now putting his creativity to good use. Seated in a temporary shelter, this young man painstakingly carves boats out of wood making a sizeable profit of a few thousand rupees by selling them to souvenir hunters.

“I generally charge about Rs. 1,000 from locals and about Rs. 2,000 from foreigners but some foreigners give me as much as Rs. 20,000 once in a way,” says Manjula skillfully wielding his tiny knife. Earlier he was a mechanic repairing air-conditioners but lost his tool set to the tsunami. Pic by M.A. Pushpa Kumara.

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