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| Sunday, 5 December 2004 |
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Sunera Foundation all out to help disabled Parental contribution is most welcome towards the development of differently-abled youth, said Rohana Deva, a member of the Sunera Foundation, who devotes a good part of his time towards differently-abled youth. He was making these observations at a workshop organised by the Sunera Foundation at the SLFI recently. It was a workshop of a different kind where there was participation by both parents who were able to express their ideas to the members of the Foundation and the young people were able to show us in no small measure, how differently-abled people were capable of doing things their way. The Sunera Foundation which has been in existence for quite awhile ably chaired by Sunethra Bandaranaike is an organisation that has no race, class or creed barrier but has got one thing in common-bringing together physically and mentally retarded youth and teaching them through various methods to be independent. The workshop showcased the abilities of these wonderful differently-abled youth in an after tea session at the workshop. About fifty of them showed us journalists their natural talent, in more ways than one. They danced to a rhythm and they were even able to group themselves and do drama sequences which were all impromptu. Many of them were from far away places. Most of them were war victims. Some were soldiers who had lost both limbs, while some were those who had suffered physically or mentally due to being displaced as a result of the war and some of them were born physically or mentally disabled. The group was a good mix of teenage girls and boys. The Sunera Foundation is aiming at helping out more differently abled youth but require finance and space. They are working towards raising funds for a functional and environmentally friendly centre. The centre will promote the rights of all disadvantaged persons and give them an opportunity for self-expression which is one of the Foundation's main aims. The Foundation also has plans to set up small integrated theatre and arts groups throughout Sri Lanka, where continuous creative and innovative and will culminate in theatre performances, exhibitions and other presentations. The Foundation had a two-year leadership Training Programme with funding from the British Government's Department for International Development. These trained personnel conduct regular workshops islandwide. Both Sunethra Bandaranaike and Rohana Deva were of the view that there was a severe dearth of personnel and requested for trainers. Any person willing to give their time and could contact the Foundation at 65, Rosemead Place., Colombo 7. (F F) |
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