Help a friend in need.

Sri Lanka, the small island just below India, was my home for 14 years during which its people endured a civil war and a tsunami that killed 30,000+. Recently the country’s people rose up against their long-standing and corrupt president and his family on whom he’d bestowed senior government roles.

The people are protesting a lack of fuel, food and medicine, relentless hours-long power cuts and the discredited and inept regime they have lived under for so long.

While in Sri Lanka I lived and worked with a young man, Lipton Jayawickrama, who became my trusted friend and photography partner in our successful wedding photography business. Lipton and I are like family -- he named his daughter after me – and we’ve kept in constant contact since my return to California.

As the situation on the island has deteriorated, with shelves empty of food and escalating prices for the little that’s still available, I’ve sent what little money I could to help him. In a recent FaceTime call I noticed he was missing the gold necklace his wife, Shaki, had given him as a wedding present. When I asked where it was, he bowed his head and admitted: “I pawned it. And my wedding ring.”

Lipton had used the proceeds to buy food and petrol for his family. He’d also sold his photography equipment – no-one can afford a wedding you'd want to photograph now, and besides the guests would be unable to get there – and although he’d been fortunate to find work managing a hotel and earning Rs 40,000 ($112/month), when the establishment closed due to lack of guests (and lack of food for staff), he began to spend days waiting in line for fuel to power the family’s three-wheeled taxi, in the hope it would provide some income and allow him to check on his parents, who are sick and in need of medicine.

Sri Lanka is in crisis. A new president (albeit a member of the previous corrupt regime) brought a glimmer of hope for the country, but the nation is still bankrupt. Food and fuel are still scarce. The exchange rate has devalued the Rupee and people are desperate.

Lipton’s so desperate he pawned his wedding ring for food. He is determined to find a job somehow and even thought of trying to get an overseas job, but the cost of doing so is beyond anything he can afford, or that I can help with. Indeed, helping finance my friend and his family during this disaster has left my own bank account on the verge of empty. A German friend, who also knows Lipton has encouraged me to create this GoFundMe to help get back on his feet. I hope you will contribute and help him to help all those that rely on him.

Note: donations will be sent to Lipton’s secure bank account, free from gov’t control.