Yala, Sri Lanka

Yala, Sri Lanka is the national park where Deraniyagala and her family were vacationing at the time of the tsunami. Deraniyagala returned to the site of this disaster looking for things that belonged to her family. She felt a sort of connection with the jungle here because it was damaged in the same way she was.

Colombo

Colombo is the capital of Sri Lanka. This is where Deraniyagala’s parents lived all of their lives. Deraniyagala grew up in Colombo. During the first year after the tsunami, Deraniyagala lived with her aunt in Colombo.

Sonali’s Parents’ Home

Because her brother had already cleaned out her parents’ house, Deraniyagala was not able to find signs that her family existed in that house as she hoped she would be able to do when she worked up the courage to make her first visit to this setting.

After...