8 December 2016 12:00 am Views - 2894
The national dream of establishing a center dedicated for children with disabilities became a little closer to reality on World Disability Day as the foundation for ‘Ayati- a centre of excellence for children with disabilities’, was laid ceremonially at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Kelaniya.
The center which was initiated by Hemas Holdings PLC together with the Kelaniya Faculty of Medicine, held its groundbreaking ceremony under the patronage of the Chief Guest, Ruwan Wijewardene, State Minister of Defence and many other distinguished personalities, along with the members of Ayati Trust Sri Lanka.
As depicted by the name Ayati (which means ‘hope’ in Sanskrit), the center will provide many of the facilities required to help children with disabilities to achieve their maximum potential and become fully- integrated into our society. With the blessings of the Ministry of Defence, the Sri Lanka Navy has volunteered to provide the required manpower to build a 42,000 sq.ft. state-of-the-art center, which will spread across 1.5 acres in the Medical Faculty grounds at Ragama.
This initiative, which will undoubtedly help our country in its journey towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, will be driven by the Department of Disability Studies in the Faculty of Medicine of the University ofKelaniya, together with Hemas Holdings PLC, and has already received excellent support from the government, private sector as well as other international organizations.
Commenting on this historic moment, Prof. Nilanthi de Silva, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya and Chairperson, Ayati Trust Sri Lanka said, “As we lay the foundation for the first national center for children with disabilities, I would like to thank everyone who enabled us to meet a very important, but hitherto neglected, need in our country. Once operational, the center will provide facilities for the initial assessment of children with disabilities, as well as appropriate interventional therapy, basic vocational training and life skills. It will also provide a state-of-the-art training and research facility for our undergraduate students and foreign graduates who regularly visit the University.”
“We at Hemas are pleased to launch an initiative of this nature with the Faculty of Medicine Kelaniya to address a much needed requirement in the country. Our role in this project will be solely to facilitate funding and sponsorship towards the proposed Ayati centre which will be initially funded by Hemas,” said Abbas Esufally- Group Director of Hemas Holdings PLC and Deputy Chairperson Ayati Trust Sri Lanka.
The centre will be managed by an eminent Board of Trustees, chaired by the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine University of Kelaniya, and will also have support from Kumar Sangakkara and Roshan Mahanama, who will play a crucial role as trustees and spokesmen for the Ayati trust.