RIYADH, 7 October 2006 — A center for mentally retarded Muslim children is to be built with Saudi funding in Sri Lanka.
Jiffry Haniffa, leader of the delegation from the Islamic Center for Physically Handicapped (ICPH) based in Doolmala, Thihariya, in the island state, who is currently on a visit to the Kingdom, told Arab News that Al-Zamil Group has agreed to fund this project to help the mentally retarded children in the island.
Haniffa, who called on World Assembly of Muslim Youth Secretary-General Saleh Al-Wohaibi, said the organization has agreed to supervise the construction of the project which will be built at the ICPH headquarters in Thihariya. The center recently established a wing to take care of mentally challenged children. It currently has 25 such children, including eight boys, and 500 children are waiting for enrollment.
The delegation, which also met with Dr. Saleh Bin-Humaid, chairman of the Shoura Council in Riyadh, is seeking participation from local investors for income-generating building projects for supporting the capital and day-to-day operations of the ICPH.
In May, Dr. Mohsin Al-Turki, secretary-general of the World Muslim League, visited ICPH in Sri Lanka and had commended its activities saying: “It is the only Sri Lankan Islamic charitable organization tackling the problem of impairment of children through its unique educational, vocational and rehabilitation program.”
The center, which Haniffa started 20 years ago with just five physically challenged students and a teacher, now has 250 children, including 50 girls, five to 17 years old, with 36 teachers. The center is an honorary member of the Riyadh-based Islamic World Council for Disability and Rehabilitation that is supported by Crown Prince Sultan, deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation.
Every year, 25 of its inmates who pass out are given jobs in both the government and private sectors. Males are trained in gem cutting, tailoring, printing, carpentry, dental technology and baking, while females get training in jewelry making, home science and cookery, said Haniffa who is accompanied on the tour by Ahmad Barry.
“Some of our children were listed toppers at public examinations conducted by the government of Sri Lanka at GCE ( Advanced Level) and Grade 5 government scholarships examination,” Haniffa said, adding that a blind child would be sitting for his Advanced Level this year.
“We’ve a waiting list of 500 children and need to expand our infrastructure,” he said, adding that the center offers vocational and rehabilitation services to the physically challenged. Aside from physiotherapy, the center provides therapies to children suffering from speech, hearing and visual problems. The island’s federal government has been assisting the center by paying salaries of its teachers.
“We’ve been providing hostel accommodation to our students and also giving them medical care,” Haniffa said, adding that Iqra Charitable Society, Organization of the Islamic Conference and Muslim World League have been contributing funds to the center.
“Through our programs, we want to convince the world that disability is no handicap nor inability,” Haniffa said, adding that the center’s future plans included a second women’s hostel, a playground and pavilion, teachers’ quarters and a health care center.
Besides donations from Saudi philanthropists, Haniffa said Sri Lankan expatriates too contribute a great deal toward implementation of IPCH projects. During the current visit, Mumtaz Ansar, a Sri Lankan businessman in Riyadh, donated SR25,000 to the center.
Describing the problem of the handicapped children as enormous, he said an estimated 10 percent of Sri Lanka’s 20 million population is physically challenged. Haniffa himself lost his toe in an industrial accident in 1971.
