Camp for the differently abled guides:

Equally enabled

Ishara Jayawardane

They may be able to say the first line of the ‘Promise’ but not the second or third lines. But there is someone to guide them through it and once they make their promise they are enrolled as Guides. Thus the differently abled girls are integrated into the normal stream of Girl Guides. There is no separate program for them or a separate syllabus.

In spite of the grim outcome one would expect, the extension branch for the Differently Abled of the Sri Lanka Girl Guides Association has been in existence since 1924. They currently run nine institutions, with one in Jaffna – the deaf and blind school, under severe financial strain.

The Girl Guides Association of Sri Lanka is a purely voluntary movement dedicated to the uplifting of Guiding in Sri Lanka. One of their latest projects is an international camp for the differently abled, planned to be held in August, as a part of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts’ centenary year activities, revealed Sri Lanka Girl Guides Association Differently Abled Branch Director, Marlyn Dissanayaka.

However, because all the girls are from different institutions and differently abled schools, this will be no easy task. According to the director, the girls may be suffering from Down’s syndrome or are slow learners, deaf or blind. “But they are part of our association of the world wide Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts” said Dissanayaka.

But the Guides Association has come up with a new criterion as of late, something definitely more attractive and cuddly – the animal lover. The questions that ensue are the likes of ‘what time do you feed a pet parrot, dog or cat’, ‘what do you feed it’, ‘do you brush the doggie’, ‘what types of medicine they take’, followed by drawing a picture of the pet in question. “For the other children it would be much more.

However we don’t want to differentiate them from the normal child. Lord Baden Powell started this movement for girls. It was a movement for anybody and everybody” explained Dissanayaka. About three countries have expressed interest in the international camp from August 11 to 17, in Colombo. The Association hopes there will be at least 20 foreign and 80 local participants. Being a guide herself and an ardent supporter of guiding related activities, the Colombo Ladies College principle has been kind enough to lend school as the venue for the camp.

However the Association is still short of approximately one and a half million rupees. An outing to Pinnawella, sports meet, handicrafts exhibition and a cultural evening is also in the pipeline.

A concert and awareness program – named You are very special – to raise funds for the camp will be held on April 5, at the Galle Face Hotel. “All participants will be differently abled kids.” said Dissanayaka. There are lots of people feel very sorry for them. But she stressed that it is not sympathy they want but empathy. Dissanayaka pointed out that everybody has their own disabilities. “We just want everybody to realise that these kids can do so many things even though they are disabled.”

A camp for the differently abled was held three years ago in South Korea. Six Sri Lankan participants - slow learners and a girl with Down’s syndrome took part in it. “They had horse riding and trekking. They really enjoyed it. We thought we would take up the challenge and have something similar in Sri Lanka” said the Director. A group for street children has also been started.

The Association is seeking help from the general public to meet the monetary demands. “We have had a good response, the money is coming, but we need much more to realize the plan” said Dissanayaka.