Flights of Fancy ready to take off

“Flights of Fancy”, an evening of entertainment on November 19 at 4 p.m at Waters Edge is for the worthy cause of raising funds for the construction of a rehabilitation centre for women. The production is by the Sri Lanka Muslim Women’s Conference (SLMWC), an umbrella organization of many Muslim organizations in the country that works towards alleviating poverty while promoting self-reliance among women.

“The theme of our production is that of co-existence,” says Ms. Jezima Ismail, President Emeritus SLMWC. Bringing alive the magic world of fairytales, the event will feature many segments, including “Fashion Fantasy” a production of dance, drama and song with a message of hope even in a disordered world.

The participants are all students, ranging from 5 to 23 years. The dances will be performed by the Kanthi Ranchigoda Dance Work Centre. Another dance item based on the different ethnicities of the country would also be performed. A sing-a-long and stalls featuring a variety of merchandise- jewellery and food items by tsunami affected women will be a feature of the evening.

The fund-raiser is for the rehabilitation centre which seeks to provide support and guidance to women, children and families affected by war and natural disasters or subjected to abuse, by providing them a safe home to be constructed at Kohuwela. One section of this institution will be devoted to helping widows, divorcées and traumatized women through facilities such as counselling and vocational training. The other section would feature a transition house.

“We have already built a training centre where programmes for self-employment are conducted for women and we hope to develop this further and provide other training facilities as well,” Ms. Ismail added.