Making 'assets' out of 'liabilities'

Appreciating the services of Fraincis Wisenfeld:

by Nishantha Rupasinghe

Mrs. Francis Wiesenfeld followed Professor Randolf K. Harley as the consultant for the "Integrated Education Programme of Sri Lanka." The main purpose of the programme was to create opportunities for visually impaired children to attend regular schools close to their home, as opposed to the then practice of going to residential schools.
 

She was in Sri Lanka from the end of 1968 to the end of 1972. Her duties included training teachers, locating visually impaired children who stay home, educating school personnel and the public and inaugurating and developing the "Integrated Education Programme" in government schools.

Her kindness, sincerity, pleasant personality and hardwork enabled her to enlist the cooperation of everybody, while UNICEF, the "American Foundation for the Overseas Blind" and the Sri Lankan government gave her financial support.

She treated everybody alike, and never failed to help those who needed help. After 22 years she came back to Sri Lanka in 1994 and was very pleased with the progress made by the programme. She stressed that Sri Lanka was the best among all the countries she served.

To recognize the services she did for Sri Lanka one of her dearest pupils established a scholarship at the Peradeniya University called "Wiesenfeld Studentship" in the year 2000. She was pleased with it and was eager to hear about the students and donated a special computer for the use of the usually impaired students.

Now that she is no more, everybody is going to miss her, but her services will be remembered forever.