When I first interviewed Lakshani Fernando she had just assumed duties as General Secretary of the Ceylon Bible Society (CBS), in January 2002. She was the first woman to hold this position in the Society’s then 190-year-old history. But Lakshani didn’t seem to find the position in the least daunting, coming to this new job fresh from 13 years at Methodist College, serving eventually as Vice Principal. She is also a lawyer, having taken her oaths in 1976 and having practised in Hulftsdorp for two years before she forsook the law for teaching. Lakshani is married to Hilary Fernando, an accountant by profession, who has at every stage been wonderfully supportive of his wife’s activities.
What led me to ask Lakshani for an interview this time, was the news that she has been co-opted to serve on the Global Board of Bible Societies. This is a singular honour, for Lakshani is one of only three women of the 18-member Global Board and is also among the small number of General Secretaries chosen from among 200 across the globe to serve on the Board. She is elated that a fellow Asian woman, Nora Lucero of the Philippines, is currently Chairperson. For herself, Lakshani is happy that as a representative of the South Asian region, she will be able “to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves.”
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| Lakshani Fernando |
In the seven years of her tenure at Bible House, Lakshani has ventured boldly into the area of Information Technology, using modern methods of communication to make the Bible more readily accessible and more easily understandable to a greater number of people.
Anybody who thinks the Bible Society’s work is limited to the printing and distribution of Bibles and Scripture portions, is very much behind the times. The CBS now is actively engaged in producing Sinhala teledramas based on Biblical themes and focusing on social issues, which are telecast on Rupavahini’s “Sudhasuna” programme.
Lakshani was particularly pleased with a recent one about an intellectually impaired little boy at whom his classmates in school poked fun.
The child, however, thought they were trying to be friendly and he consistently showed such goodwill towards them that his tormentors were completely won over by the boy’s good nature and their whole attitude towards him changed to one of kindness and genuine friendship.
Lakshani said that a staff member followed a training course in the making of teledramas, but that they have a “brain-storming” session with a team of people when they discuss the theme for each new teledrama. One of them writes the script and the Bible Society has to find the locations, actors, costumes etc. It is entirely a Bible Society production and Rupavahini is only the channel through which it goes out to the general public.
Another undertaking that has been well received is the dramatization of the Old and New Testaments on audio-cassettes. There is no problem with regard to the New Testament since an organization called “Hosanna Ministries” in New Mexico, USA, funds all the dramatization done in Sinhala of the New Testament.
But for the Old Testament, the CBS has to find the funding. Lakshani says that in the book of Genesis, there are 40 characters, which meant finding 40 voices! It’s been completed satisfactorily. She sounded very happy over a dramatized version of the book of Ruth which, she said, brings out the relevance of Ruth’s story for women of today, so many of whom are widows and refugees.
Speaking of funding, Lakshani has a still bigger challenge to meet, in that funding from abroad is very hard to come by now, owing to the recession. “We have to find ways and means of raising money locally,” she said. She is working on a “Stewardship Campaign” to encourage local friends and well-wishers to help in greater measure with funding .
She says the spacious new building that houses the CBS has been valued at Rs.450 million, but that the return from renting out space to offices is inadequate. She is racking her brains for ways to increase the income and is now updating the premises in order to utilise the available space to its maximum.
Lakshani is very happy about the two-storeyed Centre for Biblical Studies the CBS has established in Akmeemana, Galle. Well-attended classes in Computer Studies and Kandyan dancing have been in progress for some time now. “We have a two-pronged approach in that while the CBS has its own programmes, it also aims at being of service to the wider community, and so there are classes that are not conducted by us but by members of the community to whom we make space available at a nominal rent.” This Centre also has separate dormitory facilities for women and men.
The CBS also launched programmes in its centres in Kandy, Bandarawela and Galle, for care-givers of the elderly and its main resource person has been Sister Edel, a Roman Catholic nun. This was another popular innovation and Lakshani mentioned how pleased she felt when a Buddhist priest who provides care for elders in the Galle District, followed the course in Akmemana and was very appreciative of it. The former Holiday Home of the YWCA in Bandarawela has been leased by the CBS as its centre there.
In Kandy, at present, the CBS rents space in the City Mission premises for its programmes.
The Internally Displaced People in Vavuniya are very much in the forefront of Lakshani’s mind at the moment. “We are working in the camps, through the Ministry for Christian Religious Affairs,” she said. She has an idea for setting up a Transit Home for over-70s who, when they leave the camps, might need temporary accommodation until they find a permanent place in which to stay.
The British and Foreign Bible Society is willing to assist this project. Lakshani seems to go here, there and everywhere, throughout the length and breadth of the country, with staff or with co-ordinators of the work. Her energy seems as boundless as her dedication. One of the many volunteers who help out at Bible House, says she is amazed by Lakshani’s competence and knowledge of practical matters.
“Her legal training is there, but she seems to be equally knowledgeable in areas like banking and finance and accounting – she is truly remarkable!”
Each time I meet her, I am impressed by the unruffled serenity of her manner and her quiet dignity. When she started out at Bible House, she told me she had taken as her motto, Verse 9 of the first chapter of the Book of Joshua: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; be not frightened; neither be dismayed; for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Her unshakeable faith gives Lakshani a quiet confidence as she moves forward towards the Bicentenary of the CBS which will take place in 2012.
There couldn’t have been a better choice for a General Secretary who will fittingly lead the CBS into its second century of ever-widening service. |
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