Page 77 - Hemas_Piyawara_Book

CHAPTER 11

Support for stigmatized children with disabilities

he Hemas Group had no augury that it was meant to perform a greater service to Namal’s mother would wake up early, do all the household chores, wash and dress her
Ta stigmatized segment of very vulnerable children when it was intent on setting only son and attempt to stop a rare bus to take him for his aesthetic training. But the
up preschools in tsunami-affected areas. bus never stopped. The thinking ingrained in all who came across this family, like the
wider society, was that he was muspenthu (considered as bringing misfortune) and
When the Hambantota Model Preschool was under construction at Alokapura very should not be seen outside his home. Some thought Down Syndrome was a curse from
close to the town in 2006 under Piyawara’s 20-school project, an urgent request had the gods. Neighbours who saw them in the morning would spit in disgust and turn
emerged – “Give us 2 of the 4 classrooms.”
away. When the Hemas team begged and pleaded with the bus drivers not to speed
Then came the revelation that the Southern Youth Development Association away when they saw Namal by his mother’s side, they had been adamant that “such”
was working with 40 children with disabilities – mainly with Down Syndrome, children should be kept out of sight at home!
autism and those who were deaf – among the poorest of the poor. The association Not only did the Hemas Group give the 2 classrooms and all other facilities to these
was attempting to integrate these children into wider society by honing their children but it also put its corporate strength behind them.
aesthetic skills such as dancing.
With the Alokapura Preschool providing a warm and welcoming embrace to these
Soon after the plea for 2 classrooms, the Hemas team met Namal and his parents and children with disabilities, their lives changed for the better.
witnessed firsthand the hard reality faced by them. This family also represented the life
stories of all such children. They were encouraged to paint to their hearts’ content and there followed ‘Ape
Sihinaya’ Exhibitions of their works of art at Hemas House, with the staff purchasing
Namal was the only child of labourer-parents who had this blessing when they were them and hanging them in their offices.
older. They cherished this ‘autumn’ baby. Even amidst their poverty, his parents were
striving to do their best for the baby who was born with Down Syndrome. When these children showed off their talents in dance at the Annual Sales Awards
of the Hemas Group, all the sales representatives had given them a standing ovation.
The family was living way off the main road in Siyambalagaswila, Ambalantota, in a
tiny wattle-and-daub hut which had no doors or windows just polythene nailed over The children and their parents would also be given a little excitement with excursions
the openings to keep the rain away. The precious ‘furniture’ that the family owned was to the National Zoological Gardens in Dehiwala.
limited to 3 plastic chairs.

A school of their own for the children with disabilities of Hambantota. 69