Sahanaya touched by a First Lady

Elina Jayewardene

Those who were fortunate to have met Elina Jayewardene feel a sense of loss after her demise. This extraordinary lady who conducted herself with simplicity, dignity, poise and humility was a great source of strength to me in the formative years of Sahanaya.

Since my first meeting in 1982, I have had the honour of working closely with her in relation to the development activities of the National Council for Mental Health. This was the time I was struggling to establish a community mental health service through the newly established National Council for Mental Health (Sahanaya).

Mrs. Elina Jayewardene

She had heard of my initiatives in the development of mental health from J. W. Subasinghe and Dr. Sathis Jayasinghe and invited me to her home to discuss my plans. During the discussion, she patiently listened to my views on prevailing problems facing people and my plans to develop the mental health services. At the end of the discussion, she not only expressed her fullest support for the project but, to my surprise, handed over a substantial sum of money which she had earmarked for a worthy charitable project.

Since this initial encounter, Mrs. Jayewardene worked closely with us for more than ten years to support the development of Sahanaya as its founder patron.

During this period, she maintained a keen interest in Sahanaya activities and was our greatest supporter. She visited the Sahanaya premises on a number of occasions and was associated with several of its activities. In 1985, she supported our requests to secure a plot of land from the Urban Development Authority and subsequently was associated with the late President Jayewardene in laying the foundation stone for the construction of the first phase of the Community Mental Health Centre in Colombo.

Her association with Sahanaya gave a high visibility to mental health as many people who respected her came voluntarily to help us in different ways. Subsequently in the late eighties she was associated with the laying of the foundation stone for the second phase of the building which was completed in two years.

Her commitment and dedication towards mental health development gave us great inspiration and strength. She was a great advocate of mental health development and watched our activities from a distance. She never imposed her will or made use of her position as the chief benefactor; instead she listened to our problems and continued to help whenever possible.

It was rare to find someone of her stature come forward and support the development of a field which did not attract many benefactors or sympathisers at the time. It is a great tribute to Mrs. Jayewardene that subsequently many others have followed her example and have been associated with the development of mental health activities in Sri Lanka. Sahanaya and the rest of the mental health development movement in Sri Lanka owe a great debt to this noble lady for her commitment and dedication to a worthy cause.

By Nalaka Mendis, Professor of Psychiatry, University of Colombo, President, National Council for Mental Health (Sahanaya)