By 12 noon every Thursday, 13-year-old Udara becomes impatient. He can’t wait for the afternoon because it is the time he gets to be with friends who are very much like him.
Monotony being the hallmark of the lives of both mentally and physically disabled like Udara, the weekly Thursday session at Christopher Care Centre in Mattakkuliya is considered a divinely given escape from their daily routine.
Udara’s mother P.G. Premalatha, struggling to cope with her son’s disability, has the additional burden of being a single parent. After the death of her husband, she had no option but to work as a domestic leaving her disabled child at home alone. “I used to keep food and water near him before I set off to work in the morning and come back by noon. But now it is difficult for him to stay in the wheelchair in one position for a long time and so I stopped going to work about a year ago,” she says.
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Premalatha relates how excited small Udara gets on Thursday afternoons when he knows it is the day he goes to the centre. He would coax her to dress him up quickly, she says. “I have been bringing him here for the past nine months now. He enjoys the company of his friends. Also the medical assistance he receives free of charge is a blessing for poor people like us. Thanks to the assistance I have got after coming here, I no longer have to go in search of work. I can stay at home to look after him,” she says.
Like Udara, there are many others who look forward to this weekly session of the Christopher Care Centre which is held from 2- 6 p.m. on Thursdays.
Funded partly by the International Expatriate Association (IEA) Colombo, the Christopher Care Centre was initiated in November last year. The handicapped children who come to the centre receive speech and massage therapy every week, free of charge. They spend time attending the art and handwork classes, singing or playing with the educational toys while enjoying a cup of tea offered with biscuits or sweets in the evenings and sometimes a slice of cake if a birthday donation comes their way. Sewing lessons are conducted to keep the mothers occupied while their kids are busy. Before they leave the centre in the evening each child is given two large dinner packets to take home. Most of them live in and around the area, so they receive trishaw money for transportation back and forth.
Currently, the centre caters to the needs of 22 such children who, according to the members of the centre, are from poor families in the Mattakkuliya area, mostly the slums.
However, the message of this care centre seems to have gone beyond the boundaries of Mattakkuliya. This is evident in the case of T. W. Swarna who makes it a point to bring her disabled son 15-year-old Chaminda all the way from Seeduwa by bus, getting off at Mattakkuliya and then taking a trishaw to the centre. An emotional Swarna recalling the dramatic change that took place in her son’s life, said how cheerful her son used to be until he was about two and half years. “He used to walk, talk, sing, dance and play around like a normal child. Suddenly, he got fever and after that he had a fit. Some tests were done as doctors said a germ had gone into his system. He got paralyzed from the spine downwards thereafter,” she laments.
Swarna says that she sees a big improvement in her son after she started bringing him to the centre. “Now he says thaththa and aiya and even makes a slight effort to sit and watch TV,” she says.
IEA Board member Tanya Brown says the look on a child’s face, when you help them accomplish even a simple thing-may be to pull a chair on their own, is the best reward they ever get. “Knowing that such children do not have a great future ahead of them what we do is to guide them – and get them the medical and financial assistance needed. I love to see the way they smile or say thank you,” says this US citizen.
Recently, the volunteers organised a common birthday party for the children as holding individual parties is beyond their means. On that day, all the children cut a big cake; they received gifts amidst music and celebrations; and came attired in their best clothes, their mothers too all dressed up in saree.
Due to the lack of funds, the volunteers can hold only one session a week for the children but committee members say they are keen on making it at least two sessions a week. True, it is little that we could do to make them overcome their physical ailments completely, yet, a little bit of our attention can make a difference. And that is why efforts like those at the Christopher Care Centre, need to be supported.
IEA: Voluntering to help
The Christopher Care Centre was started in November 2008, with its present Chairman Pamela Wooten and Deputy Chairman Sneha Rajendran being among its founder members. The idea arose after it was found there were many disabled children in Mattakkuliya area. Of the six committee members at this care centre – five are volunteers and some, including the chairman Ms Wooten, have experience in dealing with disabled children, says committee member Mrs. V. Silva.
Funding comes mainly from donors including the International Expatriate Association Colombo (IEA). Formed in 2007, IEA based in Colombo, comprises individuals from across the country. A voluntary organisation, the IEA’s objective is to assist expats in their local charity efforts.
That’s how the IEA got involved in helping the Christopher Care Centre programme, says committee member IEA Tanya Brown.
Tanya Brown can be contacted on 0773945323 or ieacolombo@yahoo.com. Website www.ieacolombo.org |
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