To Help in the realization of a Dream…

LET ME TELL YOU HOW

It all Started with a phone call from Mrs. Clare Seneviratne asking us whether we needed help for any project and if so, would we get in touch with Mrs. Gwendoline Kuhatheva, Directress of Technique International who was organizing what has now turned out to be a very successful annual feature Ms. Lanka Beauty For a Cause! It was the “cause” that she was looking for, and Clare having already come in to contact with Daya Mina, remembered us.

We profited from the Ms. Lanka show being held for two consecutive years in aid of Daya Mina (1995 & 1996). It was at the second show that His Excellency David Tathem, the British High Commissioner was the Chief Guest. He was very interested and concerned about the cause of the handicapped child in Sri Lanka, and he pledged to help us through the British Government partnership programme. This finally resulted in the British Government gifting Daya Mina with a brand new facility – a much needed Multi Purpose Hall.

To help in the realization of a dream has taught me so much about the concern and selfless involment of persons. PEOPLE DO CARE! This I think is the bequest of persons with a disability. They have the power to bring out the best in people.

Rev. Sister Anastasia
Sister of Charity and Directress
DAYA MINA DAY CENTER
FOR THE MENTALLY HANDICAPPED
Extracts, Courtesy: LANKA WOMEN

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A Truly Rewarding Experience

I think I experienced the most truly heartwarming and rewarding experience of my whole journalistic career a fortnight or so ago, when His Excellency Mr David Tatham, High Commissioner for Britain in Sri Lanka, declared open a new facility for “Dayamina” a Daycare Centre for Handicapped Children run by the Sisters of Charity in Nugegoda. The new facility was gifted by Britain, and to Sister Anastasia, Directress of “Dayamina” and her devoted band of helpers, it must really have seemed like a miracle. I first became aware of the existence of “Dayamina” when “Lanka Woman” gave it some publicity for their annual Sale of Work. From then on I was “hooked”, and “Dayamina” seemed to occupy a very special place in my heart. When Gwendoline Kuhatheva, Directress of Technique International School of Hairdressing and Beauty asked me one day, if I could recommend a worthy charity to whom she could donate the proceeds of a fund-raising event she was planning, I thought instantly of “Dayamina”.

Mr. Tatham who was Chief Guest at the second “Ms Lanka’ show, was so impressed by the work the Sisters were doing that he undertook to try to get Britain’s help to put up the facility. So there we were, that sunny Tuesday afternoon at the ungodly hour of 3.00 pm awaiting the arrival of the High Commissioner who did not come alone, but was accompanied by Mrs Tatham, who had braved the intense heat to be present at “Dayamina”. To the Sister, who had prayed unceasingly over the matter, it must have been the culmination of a cherished dream and Gwendoline and Delerine and I were all deeply moved at the sight of the spanking new, bright blue and cream two-storeyed building gifted by Germany and Britain.

There was room for a much needed hall, as well as classrooms and a dressing room for the girls where they could learn the basics of good grooming. You see, the Sisters are nothing if not practical! After the Opening Ceremony, we were entertained by the students who showed a remarkable sense of rhythm and co-ordination, and unless one knew that these were ”special” children with learning difficulties, one would have thought that they were normal students.

Watching the performance, one tended to forget how tough a job it must have been to train the students to this pitch, and the credit for this must go to the hardworking and devoted Sisters who are trained to cope with these handicapped children, who belong to all races and religions. There is no discrimination whatsoever, either racial or religious and that is what makes “Dayamina” so special.

Children are children, from whatever racial or religious background they come and one would have to be extremely bigoted and narrow minded not to realize what wonderful work the Sisters are doing. I, for my part, am very glad to have been associated with “Dayamina” and to have been able to help, even in a small way, in the realization of a dream. Faith, they say can move mountains, and in the end, it is the prayers of the Sisters that enabled this cherished dream to become a beautiful reality.

Courtesy – Lanka Woman 18th March 1998
Personal from, Clane Seneviratne – Editor