Dayamina: Happy tenth anniversary

By Nilika de Silva

Like Longfellow's 'Village Blacksmith' if one can be occupied productively and happily, at the end of the day, that's all that matters.

'Each morning see some work begun, each evening see its close. Something attempted, something done, has earned a night's repose.'

At Dayamina, the Day Centre for the Mentally Handicapped, the children are occupied and happy, from 9 in the morning to 3.30 in the afternoon. And the secret behind their success has been the dedication of Sister Anastasia, the Directress of the centre and her caring team of helpers.

Sister Anastasia, has guided Dayamina's fortunes since January '94 and has seen the school progress over the years. And though she is preparing to leave for her next assignment, it is evident that she will carry fond memories of these youngsters to whom she gave love and understanding for many years.

She knows each child by name. And also knows how best to handle each and every one. "Anastasia really means a gift before God, you know. And I have to try to live that," she says.

Today with seventy children on the roll, Dayamina is getting ready to celebrate the culmination of its tenth year in December.

A sewing room, art room, carpentry room, music room, and other forms of instruction provide the students with the opportunity of learning at their own speed. We saw the youngest aged three, and the eldest in her forties, helping out with the kids.

"Daya Mina" means 'Jewel of Love' and the Day Centre reflects its name. The Directress speaks to each youngster and they in turn refer to her as 'mother'.

The children at Dayamina are afflicted with Down's Syndrome or are autistic or brain damaged. Sr. Anastasia explained, "We take them on condition that they can be trained."

An early intervention programme was started last January and now very young children also attend the centre. Parent counselling takes place on a Saturday twice a term and forms an essential part of the programme.

To teach independent living skills, children are kept in groups of seven. They stay over at the school, do their marketing and cooking and spend the week in school. Their neatly kept bedrooms showed that the children acquire much through this programme. "We got a donation of a television," Sister Anastasia said guiding us through the living area.

"In fact we are looking out for cottages, which can be set up as Community Cottages. This would allow the parents of the children living in these to act as a support group to each other. There should be a future, a supervised future for these children."

"We try to make them independent enough to handle routine jobs, like fixing labels. The more such jobs are available, the better."

At present the children of Dayamina are preparing for their next exhibition to be held on November 14, 15, 16, at the Lionel Wendt. "The very first exhibition we had was an art exhibition in 1994, titled "Our World," said Sr. Anastasia.

"The children have a lot of gifts and we wanted to show society that they could contribute something. And people were amazed."

"Two students here have sat for the O/Ls, doing needlework and drawing," she added.

The children make jams and chutneys for sale. They also turn out Christmas cards, vases and draught boards among many other things, the latter which they supply to the State Trading Corporation.

"But we are looking out for more outlets," she said.

Dayamina also trains young people in the care and education of the handicapped child. This programme has been going on for 20 years. Final year medical students come to the centre every month for observation. "It's a real international venture. Our biggest problem is finances though," Sr. Anastasia said.

"We have a vision, to continue to provide vocational skills and see them having jobs. But there's still a long way to go. We have children from all races and all religions and the medium of instruction is in all languages. Classes are kept small. Sometimes, there are about 6 - 8 in a class."

"We are hoping to open the workshop and playground sponsored by the Lions Club of Kotte, Jayawardenepura and funded by Orient Mondiale on December 5. I am hoping that Sister Anne Marie from Belgium, who started Dayamina, will participate at the celebrations," Sr. Anastasia said.

Sr. Gloria Fernando will take over from Sister Anastasia.

In the silence of the night…

The nocturnal life of animals seen in their natural habitat is truly an interesting ex perience. Singapore's popular Night Safari provides an opportunity to enjoy a unique encounter with over a thousand seemingly free roaming wild animals in their jungle environment.

Set in an area of about 40 hectares of secondary jungle, the Night Safari Park is located just half an hour away from the city centre. It is divided into two large sections by an inlet of the Seletar Reservoir, which borders a large portion of the park. Within this area, are eight zones, skillfully landscaped to resemble the original habitat of the wild animals of three continents, Asia, Africa and South America.

Travelling slowly through the park in an open- sided tram, the scene changes from the rocky outcrops of the Himalayan foothills, to the grassy plains of Equatorial Africa, and the thick South East Asian rain forests. In each area, one can see a rich diversity of animal life. The massive Burmese Gaur, beautiful African antelopes, the striped Bongo, and the distinctly marked Blesbok, the tiger, bearded pig and the small banded civet from the Malayan rain forests, the endangered Gir lions of India, in addition to leopards, hyenas, giraffes, rhinos and elephants are among the many attractions of the Night Safari. Subtle lighting placed high among the branches of the tall trees, gives the effect of moonlight, enhancing the viewing, while minimising the disturbance to the animals. Three walking trails through the natural jungle allow visitors to get a closer look at some animals not easily visible from the tram.

The Night Safari which opened to the public in 1994, has become one of the major tourist attractions in Singapore, visited by around 900,000 visitors each year. The first of its kind in the world, this remarkable concept was the brainchild of a Sri Lankan, Lyn de Alwis, a former Director of the Wild Life Department and the Zoological Gardens in Sri Lanka. Mr. de Alwis was initially released by the Sri Lankan government to lay out the Singapore Zoo in 1970.

When this was completed and opened in 1973, he returned to Sri Lanka and resumed his service with the Wild Life Department. After his retirement in 1985, he was invited by Singapore to develop a reservation of jungle that had been retained adjacent to the Zoo.

Mr. de Alwis said "Ninety per cent of the animal kingdom is nocturnal and not seen by people. To see even a humble shrew in its proper habitat is a revelation.

"When the Singapore authorities asked me for ideas to develop the remaining reservation of jungle which we had set aside, it was a good opportunity to try out this concept of a nocturnal zoo. In other countries, they have tried indoor nocturnal zoos but in a restricted space, it cannot do justice to the beautiful tropical fauna and flora. The whole concept came to me when I visited Africa and saw Tree Tops, where animals are actually induced to come to a waterhole.

"Lights were introduced for better viewing. I got the idea of lighting up pieces of jungle in our country."

When Mr. de Alwis first made the proposal, the authorities in Singapore were horrified, he said. "However, we started working on the concept of having a whole zoo lit up at night and it worked."

They started working on the concept in 1991 and it was opened to the public three years later. He explained that there were barriers and enclosures although there was an illusion that the animals were all free-roaming. Hidden barriers in front of animals such as the lions and tigers prevent any attacks on the public.

Away from sight, behind the animals there are physical barriers, which enclose the various animals in their own areas. Since the enclosures are large enough, the animals behave naturally. They do not see the barriers themselves.

Dim lighting was first introduced and gradually increased in brightness. "Animals are very adaptable and soon get used to it," Mr. de Alwis said.

Touring the Park by tram, one often finds animals like deer, sambhur and tapir approaching the tram. Mr. Alwis explained that in one section of the park these animals are free to roam. Cattle bridges separate this area. The tram goes over the cattle bridges but the animals cannot cross these bridges. There has never been occasion of an attack on a visitor.

The Night Safari Park which was developed on one of Singapore's last remaining tracts of primary jungle, had to be reforested since some portions had been denuded during the war. "I took plants such as Kumbuk and Woodapple from Sri Lanka," Mr. de Alwis recalled. "Animals were taken from all the tropical countries around the world. There are 175 to 180 species of animals in the park.

He was of the opinion that Sri Lanka too has plenty of good sites for such a venture, expecially in a dry climate, north of Kurunegala. When the park was first proposed, the Singapore government did not ask for returns. "Can we keep the tourists for an extra night?," was all they asked.

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