SATVA FUND SRI LANKA
The Ceylon School for the Deaf and Blind in Sri Lanka was founded over 110 years ago and currently provides vital services to hundreds of blind and visually-impaired children.
One way to bring a sense of normalcy to these children is involving them in sports, such as cricket.
When officials at the School alerted Satva Fund board members about the need to replace the aging and damaged cricket equipment and the immense sense of joy experienced by the children as they played cricket, Satva Fund purchased the cricket equipment for the School.
There is also an annual six-a-side cricket tournament held at the School featuring a number of teams, and the equipment purchased by the Satva Fund will be used at the tournament.
Equality-based Community Support and Training (ECSAT) is a non-profit organization established in Galle in 2005 to assist vulnerable and marginalized members of the community, particularly children and people with disabilities.
When ECSAT presented details to Satva Fund about the need for a program to help children with autism and other special needs in the Galle and Matara districts, Satva Fund decided to finance such a program for 68 children.
Satva Fund provides for a Special Education Teacher, a Speech and Language Therapist, two Teacher’s Assistants, and refreshments for the children when they attend sessions at ECSAT every week.
Prior to the formation of Satva Fund Sri Lanka, several Satva Board Members had been financially supporting the Navodaya Special Children’s Foundation for a number of years. Navodaya was launched about 10 years ago by a woman and her husband to help a few children with special needs in their home. Operating out of a rented house in Mount Lavinia (a suburb of Colombo), it has now grown to include 45 children with a range of developmental disabilities including children with Down Syndrome, Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Muckle-Wells Syndrome and Speech and Language Delays. Navodaya currently includes 11 teachers, all trained in special education; there is also a physiotherapist who visits Navodaya 4 times a month and a speech therapist who visits 8 times a year to work with the children. While the children are provided breakfast and lunch, some of the children are also provided dinner before they leave Navodaya in the evening.
In January 2024, after a Board Member was approached with a request for financial assistance, Satva Fund Sri Lanka decided to support the costs associated with the physiotherapist and the speech therapist working with the children at Navodaya.
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