The house close to the Kaduwela junction is a hive of activity. While Chammi is relaxing, having completed many of his works of art, Shalu Hansika is painting a jungle, Sandes Nirmana some circles and several other children are engaged in different kinds of things.

It is only when looking closely that one sees the different kind of tools they use for their work – instead of paint brushes there are small spatulas while teaspoons, sea sponges, cut up paper and leaves have been used in their artistic endeavours, with a few adults sometimes gently guiding the hands of these artists to get the curves.

Every nook and corner of this house run by Educate.Advocate.Support.Empower (EASE) Foundation set up by Anoja Rajapatirana and son Chandima, is crowded with paintings, T-shirts, colourful stools, tablemats, bags and clay pots.
There is intense concentration among both the children and those assisting them, for they are preparing for an exhibition, the date of which is drawing nigh.

‘Celebrate Diversity’, with the theme that “Disability is a fact not a shame, is a challenge not a punishment and is an opportunity not a barrier” will be held on November 3 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Royal College Skills Centre (Rajakiya Mawatha), Colombo 7.

Organised by the Rotary Club of Colombo together with the Interact Clubs of Royal College and Bishop’s College in association with E.A.S.E. Foundation, ‘Celebrate Diversity’ is no ordinary exhibition of arts and crafts, poems and skits, but one which will bring into public focus the latent talents of children and adults with disabilities who are not given their place in society. It will also include a seminar for parents on how to bring out the talents of these children.

“Children who couldn’t hold a pencil are now painting,” says Anoja of E.A.S.E. Foundation going down memory lane to the time her own son Chandima “was not progressing as he should and I felt something was the matter”. That was when he was about two years old and they were living in America.

She went to many doctors who brushed her off as an over-anxious mother. The definite diagnosis came only from Mary Coleman who has done much research on autism, when Chandima was about four years old. People didn’t have any expectations from these children then, except making them carry the wastepaper basket or scrub the table. Various programmes were tried out but “Chandima was not coming along”, she says.

Autism is a condition from early childhood in which there is severe difficulty in communicating and forming relationships.
By this time Anoja and family had also realised the value of the advice given by a specialist who had said: “Just because the output is damaged don’t stop the input.”

It was much later that the family decided to try out the Facilitated Communication Training, though embedded in controversy, used by thousands. It seems to have worked for Chandima, the Co-founder of E.A.S.E. Foundation. When asked by the Sunday Times what he thought about the interview he typed on the computer “that it was great”.

It was after 18 years of silence on the part of Chandima that he asserted himself, says Anoja, explaining how he asserted himself in the early days of undergoing Facilitated Communication Training. The family’s pet name for him was Chammy and spelt like that. However, when asked to spell his name after the training, holding her hand in a tight grip he had clearly typed it as ‘Chammi’, she says.

Chammi, now 39 years old, who has written poetry, makes us understand that his mother is a do-gooder and founding E.A.S.E was her idea.

Setting up the Foundation in 2007, with the support of family and friends, with the goal of promoting communication for people with speech impairment, changing attitudes so that people are not handicapped by disability and creating productive lives for people with disabilities, there has been no turning back.

The “testimonies” of numerous parents are adequate proof that not only the lives of their children but theirs too have changed after coming into contact with the Foundation.  “We assume competence and believe in providing appropriate supports,” says Anoja and this was the seed for the blossoming of ‘Celebrate Diversity’.

Realising the inherent talents of those who are differently-able after seeing a presentation made by Anoja, the Rotary Club of Colombo which co-opted the two Interact Clubs had visited the Foundation.

The group headed by the President of the Rotary Club of Colombo, Rajiv Walpita and Project Chairperson Pubudu de Zoysa had included Royal Interact Club President Nipuna Ambanpola and Project Co-Chairperson Shakir Zavahir and Bishop’s Interact Club President Dhanushka Kadawatharatchie and Project Co-Chairperson Ayshcharya Pinto.

For Nipuna it was his introduction to autism but for Dhanushka, having a special unit in their school, it was nothing new though there had been no close contact with the children in those classes. Now the two Interact Clubs are ready for November 3, participating fully in the activities by taking the autistic children who accompany the parents for the seminar out to play games close-by.

They come with experience, having already organised a fun day for orphans under a joint programme called ‘Abstract’, though they do concede that the challenges would be different. “We got to know some autistic children at E.A.S.E,” says Dhanushka, “they motivated us.”

“They are not just who they are, people who are different, but are also very talented,” Rtn Walpita adds.
For more information please contact Pubudu de Zoysa on e mail: pubudz@gmail.com

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