Sri Lanka's Forgotten Leprosy Generation

Country:

Sri lanka

Author:

Ross Velton
Grantee

Gunathilike was sent to the Hendala Leprosy Hospital in 1946. He plays the mouth organ in the hospital band. Image by Ross Velton. Sri Lanka, 2015.

English

As plans are being made to turn Sri Lanka’s oldest leprosy hospital into a museum or a geriatric...

Ross Velton
Grantee

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Shelton, a patient at the Hendala Leprosy Hospital, eats lunch while the hospital band rehearses in the background for a concert to celebrate a Buddhist holiday. Image by Ross Velton. Sri Lanka, 2015.

Thilaka Jayamane prays to Buddha for a better future after being affected by leprosy and sent to live at the Hendala Leprosy Hospital. Image by Ross Velton. Sri Lanka, 2015.

Maha is just about to leave his ward at the Hendala Leprosy Hospital. He's off to visit his girlfriend, Premawathe, another patient at Hendala. Several of the patients have fallen in love with each other during their many years living at the hospital. Image by Ross Velton. Sri Lanka, 2015.

Despite the strides in eradicating leprosy, there are still those who contracted the disease before the cure became widely available. Locked away in leprosy asylums, they were left to fend for themselves—pushed away from their families, excluded from society.

Pulitzer Center grantee Ross Velton visits one of Sri Lanka's last remaining leprosy hospitals.