Enslaved in Slave Island #14

Iresha Wijesinghe, lab assistant at the National STD/AIDS Control Programme (NSACP) clinic tending to needle users in Slave Island. Shot on assignment for Panos Pictures and The Global Fund, in January 2022.

^{• 50mm • f/1.4 • 1/250 • ISO200 • 5DMkIV & EF 50/1.4 courtesy Canon/Metropolitan}

Enslaved in Slave Island #13

One an NSACP* outreach volunteer, the other a single father; both lifelong friends, and recovering addicts. Wekanda Housing Scheme, Stewart Street, Slave Island. Shot on assignment for Panos Pictures and The Global Fund, in January 2022.

^{• 70mm • f/4 • 1/400 • ISO800 • 5DMkIV & EF 24-105/f4L courtesy Canon/Metropolitan}

^{*The National STD/AIDS Control Programme is a Sri Lankan Health Ministry initiative to coordinate the country’s response to sexually transmitted diseases.}

Enslaved in Slave Island #12

A recovering addict in the Wekanda Housing Scheme, Stewart Street, Slave Island. Shot on assignment for Panos Pictures and The Global Fund, in January 2022.

^{• 50mm • f/1.4 • 1/1250 • ISO400 • 5DMkIV & EF 50/1.4, courtesy Canon/Metropolitan}

COVID wasn’t the Only Disease #3

Buddhika Lakmal, a National STD/AIDS Control Programme (NSACP) outreach worker, poses in full PPE outside his Slave Island clinic, in January 2022. NSACP mobile teams continued to operate throughout the pandemic, and Buddhika is about to head out to nearby Stewart Street to take blood samples, and hand out HIV self-tests, needles, condoms, and educational literature to heroin addicts. Shot on assignment for Panos Pictures and The Global Fund.

^{• 105mm • f/4 • 1/500 • ISO125 • 5DMkIV & EF 24-105/f4L courtesy Canon/Metropolitan}

Enslaved in Slave Island #10

Current and recovering addicts in the Wekanda Housing Scheme, on Stewart Street; participating in a National STD/AIDS Control Programme (NSACP) outreach project in Slave Island. Shot on assignment for Panos Pictures and The Global Fund, in January 2022.

^{• 60mm • f/4 • 1/800 • ISO100 • Canon 5DMkIV & EF 24-105/f4L, courtesy Canon/Metropolitan}

Enslaved in Slave Island #9

Recovering addict, Wekanda Housing Scheme, Stewart Street, Slave Island. Shot on assignment for Panos Pictures and The Global Fund, in January 2022.

^{• 50mm • f/1.4 • 1/2000 • ISO400 • Canon 5DMkIV & EF 50/1.4, courtesy Canon/Metropolitan.}

Enslaved in Slave Island #8

Journalist Aanya Piyari Wipulasena interviews a needle user on Stewart Street, in Slave Island. With her are an outreach team from the National STD/AIDS Control Programme (NSACP). Shot on assignment for Panos Pictures and The Global Fund, in January 2022.

^{• 24mm • f/4 • 1/320 • ISO800 • Canon 5DMkIV & EF 24-105/f4L, courtesy Canon/Metropolitan.}

Enslaved in Slave Island #7

Shaniya Elayan, programme coordinator, at the National STD/AIDS Control Programme (NSACP) clinic tending to needle users in Slave Island. Shot on assignment for Panos Pictures and The Global Fund, in January 2022.

^{• 50mm • f/1.4 • 1/250 • ISO200 • 5DMkIV & EF 50/1.4, courtesy Canon/Metropolitan.}

Enslaved in Slave Island #6

An outreach worker with the National STD/AIDS Control Programme (NSACP), at work on Stewart Street, Slave Island, collating registration forms filled by needle using drug addicts. Shot on assignment for Panos Pictures and The Global Fund, in January 2022.

^{• 50mm • f/4 • 1/320 • ISO400 • Canon 5DMkIV & EF 24-105/f4L, courtesy Canon/Metropolitan}

Home is Where the Space is

An NSACP outreach volunteer, in his one-room home, on Stewart Street, Slave Island, in January 2022. The room measures about eight feet by four; just enough space for a mattress stashed on a shelf to be unrolled at night. A tiny toilet niche of his own, off to one side, is the only luxury, but there’s no running water. An addict before he began volunteering, he told me he moved here because there is no room for him in his parents’ home, filled to capacity by eight siblings. Shot on assignment for Panos Pictures and The Global Fund.*

^{*shot on a Canon EOS 5DMkIV & EF 24-105/f4L, courtesy Canon/Metropolitan.}