There are numerous helplines across the country providing a silent service to many people at their time of need. This feature looks at some key helplines in Sri Lanka through the point of view of the counsellors who give compelling insights into the kind of issues they deal with, the change they have seen over the last few decades, their views on whether with the advent of cheap mobile telephony the access to their services have increased. What is significant about the featured helplines is that none of them function out of sophisticated call centre setups – the rooms these helplines are based during office hours are very sparse and have minimum furnishings.

The helplines mainly use basic mobile phones, CDMA phones and landlines and even answer calls that come through after working hours from their homes, in buses, in public if very urgent and ensure a calm and private environment to speak in no mater where they are.

For details and original research around each photo, please click here.