FORGOTTEN victims of the tsunami still waiting for aid in Sri Lanka, are to be helped by an Evening Star exhibition 'Life After Tsunami - Save Our Village.

FORGOTTEN victims of the tsunami still waiting for aid in Sri Lanka, are to be helped by an Evening Star exhibition 'Life After Tsunami - Save Our Village.'

A selection of the stunning images of the devastation wreaked by the tidal wave in South East Asia, were printed in the paper this week. But more than a hundred more are set to be revealed at the event which launches at 6pm on Thursday, at the Limelight Bar of Ipswich Corn Exchange.

Former Star photographer Nicky Lewin journeyed through Sri Lanka two weeks after the world's biggest natural disaster, finding remote communities still waiting for aid.

It is his dream that all donations made at the exhibition will go directly to help the families he met in a refugee camp at Negombo – and the Evening Star today pledges to make that happen.

The plight of hundreds left homeless and starving – including four-year-old Rebecah, who was suffering from chicken pox - was reported in the Evening Star last month. Rebecah and many more fascinating people and places, feature in Nicky's engaging set of 160 pictures.

Their courage and spirit shine from the pictures which document how their world had been turned upside down.

Nicky Lewin, who will be at the opening night to chat about what he saw in Sri Lanka, said: “Most photographic exhibitions have around 30 pictures, so I am hoping that the shear number of pictures with captions describing what they show, and the topicality of the subject will make this a little special.

“I am very pleased that the Evening Star has got behind it. This is exactly what is needed to make a thing like this work.”

As well as business and community leaders, every Star reader is invited to the opening night.

Schools and colleges are also encouraged to attend to use the material on show as a learning experience for subjects like geography, science, media and photography.

The event will run for two weeks, to give everyone a chance to attend. It will be open from 8.30am to 5.30pm on Mondays, and 8.30am to 10.30am Tuesday to Saturday.

It is being sponsored by ICI and Olmec Inkjet printers.

The exhibition will be enhanced by display fences provided Readyfence, whose parent company CRH has donated 500,000 euros to organisations involved in the tsunami relief operations. The company is working with organisations in Ireland, the USA, the Netherlands and Sweden to finalise how CRH's contribution is applied to restoring water and sanitation and rebuilding homes and livelihoods in the affected region.