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Little of your time will mean a lot
By Dhananjani Silva
They need friends and families, but they are all alone; they want to work, dance and play and lead a normal life like others, but alas they cannot move.
People say: ‘If there’s a will there’s a way’ —they definitely have the will, but there is no way.

Visit the ‘Victoria Home for Incurables’ in Rajagiriya and you will realize the bitter truth of life, that life is so uncertain and full of miseries.
How would it be, if by any chance you were forced to spend your entire life either in a wheelchair or in bed due to a twist of fate? Well, the inmates of the Victoria Home will tell you how.

Even so, it seems as if some of them are ready to pick up the pieces and move forward, without grieving and lamenting about their plight and that is why they, despite their dilemma, try to keep themselves occupied as much as possible. A closer look at the inmates will make us realise that it is unfair to tag them as ‘disabled’. Their handiwork such as knitting, embroidery, arts and crafts, soft toys and artificial flowers will speak volumes of the fact that they are not merely disabled but differently able.

“We do not have enough bristol board and sequins to make the cards and flowers, can you help us buy them,” they asked us when we visited the home recently.

Their talents and abilities are such that we witnessed how elegant coverlets, tablemats and pillow cases delicately took shape in their hands within a few seconds.

The Matron tells us that the inmates sell their products to the people who come to see them, to earn some extra money. “That is how they make use of their talents and their free time,” she explains.

Some of them even played the organ and sang beautifully as if to welcome the visitors, whom they often consider as a luxury. Established on March 13, 1888 to commemorate the coronation of Queen Victoria, this home presently shelters 183 male and female disabled persons. “Eighty percent of the meals are being provided by the generous public while the government pays a grant of Rs. 1 million annually to the Victoria Home,” says its Chairman, D. K. Thevarapperuma.

According to him, about 75% of them have relatives and guardians, to whom they owe the chance of going home for the New Year, Vesak and Christmas. “But those who remain here celebrate the festivals on a large scale, irrespective of their religion,” Mr. Thevarapperuma says.

“We take them to the Kelaniya Temple, Dalada Maligawa, Kalutara Bodhi, Zoological Gardens and even to see Parliament. Some of them participate in musical shows organised by the Lions’ Club and they are very cheerful on such occasion,” he adds.

Mr. Thevarapperuma says the first thing that people must do is to pay a visit to the home to see what life really means and appeals to the general public to join hands with them, as they face a shortage of staff.

“Some of the inmates in this Home are so active and full of life that they get up at 5 a.m. and start their work if they can manage. But the ones who are utterly helpless have to wait for assistance,” he explains while taking us to the wards.

These wards consist of ‘bed toilets’ the matron says, but words are inadequate to describe the discomfort that the people who use these undergo. We put ourselves in their position and try to feel their pangs, the way they do. Their conditions are such that they are unable to use the common toilets.

While staying in bed, they brush their teeth, wash their faces, bathe and even try to reach out to us, making little gestures as if to call us near them. Although we can do little to overcome their physical illnesses, we could pay them a visit, have a chat and attend to their needs and accept what they offer, be it flowers, cards or book marks. After all, life serves no purpose if human beings are not there for each other in a time of need.

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