FMT in partnership with The Global Institute For Tomorrow (GIFT) brings you Covid-19 “healers” from Sri Lanka.
In Rathgama, a small coastal town in Sri Lanka’s south, 63-year-old Dayasiri Yaddehi and his family bake bread in the back of his humble home before delivering it to the people of the village.
He drives a brightly coloured tuk-tuk fitted with a speaker loudly playing Beethoven’s “Fur Elise” to inform people that he is on his way.
The police gave Dayasiri special permission to leave his home during lockdown and curfew as his services are essential to provide bread to those who cannot leave their homes.
Dayasiri rises each day at 4am to bake before conducting three rounds of deliveries in the morning, afternoon and evening. He finally sleeps at 1am.
He says although it is exhausting, he feels proud to be there for his community.
“People are normally happy when I come, but this time they are really happy,” Dayasiri says.
Brett Davies, an accountant in a previous life, swapped his calculator for a camera and his car for a surfboard. Originally from Melbourne, Australia, Brett has spent most of the last 14 years in Sri Lanka. He photographs people, activity on the street, and the ordinary things that show reality. View his profile here.‘The Other Hundred Healers’ is an initiative by the non-profit organisation GIFT. The 240-page, full-colour, hardcover book can be purchased here at US$40 per copy for a minimum order of 20 copies.
