Restoring pride and banishing loneliness of service personnel left disabled due to war by using computers is the goal of Pradeep de Silva, a disabled ex-policeman who has successfully turned his disability to his advantage and wants to help others to do the same.
Having mastered the use of computers since he was left paralysed waist downwards in a misfire while on duty in pursuit of a suspect in a fraud case in 1999, Pradeep taught himself to use computers to overcome the loneliness that had set into his stationery life.
Since then he has become a self taught expert in information technology and began imparting the knowledge to others.
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| Pradeep de Silva paralysed waist downward in the line of duty, found in computers a means of regaining a lost dignity caused by his inability to move and a means of overcoming loneliness through communicating via the internet. |
His latest endeavour is to help disabled service personnel to become computer literate and through the use of the internet discover a world of possibilities they have hitherto not experienced.
“Soldiers are trained to use guns and grenades but not the mouse and the keyboard. This is exactly what I train them to do to make their lives more productive,” Prdaeep said.
He began the first workshop for 60 participants last month. The aim, to train the disabled men and women of the armed forces free of charge. Each workshop has been calculated to last 24 hours, with each session lasting around three hours. “I want each of them to learn the basic use of a computer as well as to surf the internet, use e-mail and programs such as Skype, so that even from their homes they can connect with their friends and even have their own blogs where they can tell their stories from the battle-front to the rest of the world,” he said.
Although the students are only halfway into the program, the response has been extremely positive. “What I want to give them is a second chance in life. What we see in posters are the healthy young soldiers with a weapon in hand. But when the same soldier is disabled, we see him in striped pyjamas depending on other’s handouts. “I want to change that picture and build a new proud image for the disabled war heroes”, Pradeep said.
As a start, those following his training program will be given a uniform, white shirt and black trouser with a tie with a special logo that identifies them as war heroes. He also hopes to give each of the students a computer so that they can sharpen their skills and through the internet, connect with people in similar situations and also find self employment.
Pradeep is dependant on sponsors to finance his programmes as he lives on the monthly pension of Rs 8, 500 from the police department. He befriended one of the main sponsors of the programme a Swiss lady Madeleine Mueller via the internet and she is involved in the workshop while the Director General of Pensions K.A. Thilakaratna has been the backbone behind Pradeepa’s program offering the auditorium at the Pension’s Department to conduct the programme. He also runs his own website www.pradeepdesilva.com and hopes to create one for the students.
“It’s my dream to give pride of place to the men and women who have sacrificed so much for this country,” Pradeep said, now reconciled to his disability and wanting to help others like him. |
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