A collector’s choice and chance to give a helping hand
Pix by Amila Gamage
The Saskia Fernando Gallery and the Ceylon School for the Deaf and the Blind recently held their third annual silent auction in aid of the Ceylon School for the Deaf and the Blind at the Temple Trees auditorium with 37 prominent Sri Lankan artists donating their work for the auction.
“This event is not only an opportunity for collectors to purchase works, but a very important opportunity to give back while doing so,” said director/curator of the Gallery, Saskia Fernando.
The Ceylon School for the Deaf and the Blind has branches in Ratmalana and in Jaffna. The schools provide students with free education and hostel accommodation as most attending are from outstation and not from well to do homes. Running costs amount to Rs. 130 million annually.
The Ratmalana school’s manager, former Principal of Ladies’ College, Nirmali Wickremasinghe said the aim of the school is to help sight or speech impaired students to integrate into society. “We endeavour to make them able citizens of the community,” she explained, adding that the stigma associated with being differently abled needed to be overcome in order for society to become more understanding and welcoming.
Raising funds is difficult, admits Chairman of the Resource Development Committee for the Ceylon School for the Deaf and Blind Nirosh de Silva. A small fraction of the Rs. 130 million budget is given by the government while the trustees need to raise the remaining amount. Member of Resource Development Committee for the Ceylon School for the Deaf and Blind and Principal of Ladies’ College Eesha Speldewinde explained: “We cannot organize the same kind of events year after year and expect to raise the funds so every year it’s a challenge.”
This year’s auction had 12 fibreglass elephants which organizers felt was a highlight of the event. The sales at the auction however, has only raised a mere fraction of the Rs. 130 million required in the past and this year was no different, we learn.
Chairman of Board of Trustees of the Ceylon School for the Deaf and Blind and Bishop of Colombo Rev. Dhiloraj Canagasabey feels that the school plays a vital role in the community. “These children who come to us are children of all faiths… and our mission is to look after and care for all children, for we believe that all of them have been created in the holy image of God,” he said.
Ms. Wickremasinghe explained that they are attempting to give students the same training as differently abled children in developed countries receive, despite budget constraints. “For the School for the Deaf we are trying to inculcate holistic communication because when they only know sign language they get very polarized and they can 
only move around in a community where there is signs, but if you develop the whole communication where they can lip read and talk, it helps them,” she said. The ‘sponsor a child’ programme, through which members of the public can donate Rs. 10,000 a month is also very effective. Minister for Law and Order Sagala Ratnayake said the differently abled must be supported to reach their full potential. “As Sri Lanka slowly graduates into a middle income country, we need to assess and envision a programme where the differently abled communities too play an active and engaging role in Sri Lanka’s economic activity. Education is the first step in making this possible,” he said.
To donate to the school in any means possible, please visit their website http://csdeafblind.lk/supportus.php or call them at 011- 2611338 or 011-262 5204. Each small donation for a meal or through any means possible counts and is in fact how the budget is met annually.
