2nd November 1997

Hands that create beauty

By Roshan Peiris

After the recent bomb blast with its attendant killings this writer looked for some kind of diversion and found it in a newly opened handicraft place at Bauddhaloka Mawatha.

To keep away terrorists and other undesirables it is worth investing in a super large "Daha Ata Sanniya", a mask painted in primary colours of black, red, white and yellow, the large cone shaped black eyes bulging out to match the equally large white teeth, to frighten the stoutest heart.

According to village lore this mask at the entrance to a village or home, wards off all evil intruders. There are also equally evil looking masks but this one is the best.

This shop unlike most of its kind is full of innovative and imaginative handicrafts meant not only for tourists, but for Lankans on the prowl for unusual embellishments for the home or for gifts.

Most acceptable to anyone is a tea set made of burnt brass inlaid with copper with a palapetta design on it. The tray, tea pot, milk and sugar jugs carry the motif and to top it all the tea strainer also sports the same elegant design.

One is quite used to seeing brass lamps with the peacock perched atop but the one here has the peacock, and also hanging from the sides seven small brass lamps which could hold seven wicks each, something unusual, apart from being distinctively decorative. Very much to ones delight were the mini Pettagam in polished wood and with the four corners decorated with a local motif. It even sported a gold coloured key.

There was a spice tree, the top decorated with cloves, cardamoms, white pepper and cinnamon. A cute and imaginative ornament and of course one that will attract tourists. There was also the spice house like a miniature dolls house decorated with spices.

For children there are ball point pens and pencils. They merit mention because some of them are made of cinnamon bark and Kaduru. Very handy and unusual.

Attractive young Natasha modelled a set of gold plated jewellery, a chain with a design of semi precious stones in red and a dinky pendant and a pair of earrings to match. An ideal gift for a young lady stepping into society.

There are unusual waist chains in silver with a large bead at the end and elegant bead chains made of both plastic and glass beads in unusual colour combinations.

Most of these handicrafts are made by housewives who while at home use their skills. There are also many suppliers who are handicapped, and some who work while on a wheel chair.

Lucky Pieris, the man behind this tasteful shop has a simple faith that human hands have immense ability to create beautiful things.

He agrees hands can kill and destroy but adds they are also creators of beauty. He was a tour guide before he became a business tycoon with many a business concern and having the expertise to match his tastes, has given his shop the unusual name Lanka Hands. The shop is a happy blending of good taste and unusual conception.

They are not just numbers!

By Chamintha Thilakarathna

Of the 9.5% of our population who are elders, only 0.5% have been privileged enough to have a stable environment. In other words, only around 92,500 persons from approximately 1.73 million elders in Sri lanka have a roof over their heads, food on their table and are in good mental health.

These are not just numbers, they are people who have once been someone's father, mother, brother, sister, husband wife. They are people who have served the country. But today either they have been forced on the streets for survival or depend unwillingly on another who is not prepared to provide for them.

This is the sad state of more than half the elders living in a country where religion plays a big role.The gravity of the problem is unfortunately identified by only a few groups, who were making an attempt to help the destitute elders in Sri Lanka. Among them is "HelpAge" an NGO that focuses solely on the elders problems locally.

"We try to help destitute elders through our programmes. There are five main programmes which are the awareness programme, projects, special programmes, fund-raisers, and training. Each of these is aimed at making another elderly citizen's life worth living," said N.W.E. Wijewantha, Executive Director of HelpAge.

The awareness programme aims at creating an awareness of the depth of the plight of elders while the projects aim at doing something for them. Special programmes include the provision of eye care and other essential services. Fund-raisers collect adequate aids for the programmes while training is given to everyone running an elders home to anyone interested in having one, teaching them how to care for elders and what their needs are.

Yet, it is impossible to reach out to all the elders around the island, and the approximately 152 elders' homes in the country are definitely insufficient to cater to all the elders while many of them are not stable enough to provide for the needs of the elders.

Mr. Nimal Ranatunga, Director of Youth Education at HelpAge said one of the most important aims is to educate the youth on growing old and helping them to understand the importance of taking care of elders. "Everyone grows old ultimately. It is a natural process that we cannot avoid, so we must make people understand that and accept it," he said.

Thus schools around the island have been approached many a time by the NGO with successful results. Around Rs. 40 lakhs are collected from schools yearly. At the same time, each year, a number of selected elders are adopted by British sponsors through HelpAge, where they are provided a sum of approximately Rs. 500 per month for a living. "This is one of the other important projects that we have been able to participate in," said Mr. Wijeywantha.

But HelpAge is not equipped to assist all the elders' homes in the country. "Before we help these homes we try to assess their plight and then if we feel that they are in need of help, we provide their urgent needs as much as we can, not to all homes, only those which we feel that need our help", Mr. Wijewantha said.

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