Heart-warming effort to end their sound of silence
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A book of hope by 10-year-old author Reshmi. Pic by Indika Handuwala
All proceeds from 10-year-old Reshmi Senanayake’s book, ‘The Tropical Purple Hearing Aids’, will go towards buying hearing aids for needy children in Sri Lanka
When she was in Grade 3 and her teacher asked the class to write the things they were most grateful for, her classmates listed the obvious: family, friends, pets etc. Reshmi Senanayake’s list was somewhat different. It read: Imagination, pen and paper.
It was no doubt, a heartfelt expression, for Reshmi loves to write and aged just ten, has had her first book published. ‘The Tropical Purple Hearing Aids’- is a heartwarming story of a young girl whose delight at getting her first hearing aids, bright purple ones at that, has some unexpected consequences.
Like Anita the young girl in her book, Reshmi has high frequency hearing loss which makes it difficult for her to process certain ranges of sound. She has been wearing her hearing aids for almost four years now. In Canberra, Australia where Reshmi lives with her parents and elder sister, the state supplies hearing aids to children with hearing difficulties and it touched her deeply when she heard that for children with similar issues back in Sri Lanka, there was no such help. Knowing all too well the difference the hearing aids made to her life, she decided that all proceeds from the sale of her book, would be given to the National Council for the Deaf (Sri Lanka) to be used to buy hearing aids for children in need. The hearing aids she saw children wearing here were cumbersome devices and what upset Reshmi most was that you couldn’t do sports with them – a keen athlete, swimming and netball are very much a part of her life.
On Thursday morning at the National Council for the Deaf office in Rajagiriya, four youngsters received their new hearing aids. It was the beginning of an effort that Reshmi and her family will continue as her book goes on sale this Christmas. Reshmi says simply that with the hearing aids she hopes that kids like her can make the best of school and that it will help them in the future.
There is no stigma connected to hearing impairment in Australia but Reshmi’s parents Sanjaya and Dilukshi Senanayake know the realities here. They talk of their journey with Reshmi and the positive way in which she has dealt with it and hope that other children too could be helped to reach their full potential.
‘The Tropical Purple Hearing Aids’ is a book for children but adults too will enjoy the story that resonates on an emotional level as well. Reshmi has a remarkable facility for bringing her characters to life and we meet Anita’s father and mother, her audiologist Emma, her friends Natasha, Lisa and Jamie in this story, vividly illustrated by Ruwangi Amarasinghe who captures Reshmi’s characters with humour and skill.Her sketches of Anita are uncannily like Reshmi, though the author and illustrator are still to meet. The butterfly which flits across some of the pages is the symbol in Australia of the hearing impaired. The book has been designed and produced by VisageSpice.
Reaching out to others: Reshmi at the event at the National Council for the Deaf. Pic by Athula Devapriya
For Reshmi, helping others is a way of life. Just before leaving to Sri Lanka for the December holidays, she won a rather special award at her school, the Canberra Girls Grammar School; the Karen Harris Memorial Prize for Junior Citizenship – presented to a student who has most demonstrated the ability to put the needs of others before her own consistently throughout Years 3 and 4.
There are many such instances that Reshmi with a little prompting, shares. Earlier this year, she and her elder sister Saesha volunteered to have their long hair cut short in support of the Princess Charlotte Alopecia Fund, inspiring some classmates to do the same. Over the years they have found ways to contribute to others’ lives – making loom bands, holding concerts for family and friends to raise funds for the National Cancer Institute Maharagama and other causes.
A non-stop reader, a stirring poem on ‘The Journey of Slavery’ for which she researched and read extensively saw Reshmi winning first place for her age group and being ‘Overall Junior Winner’ in the Pens against Poverty competition organised by the charity Anglicare in Australia earning her warm words of commendation from Australian Children’s Laureate for 2014-2015 Jackie French.
Will there be a sequel to The Tropical Purple Hearing Aids perhaps? Maybe this time, it will be on the Silver Hearing Aids, Reshmi grins, adding that her own hearing aids are silver.
The Tropical Purple Hearing Aids priced at Rs. 1,000 will be available at leading bookshops soon and online.