Hands of Hope

‘All they really want is to be accepted. To find friendship, love and acceptance for who they are…this is what they have here,’

Christarine, one of three full-time staff at the Hands of Hope Centre, tells me.

Hands of Hope describes itself as ‘a place of learning for young girls with intellectual disabilities’. The Diocese of

Colombo opened the centre three years ago, in May 2015, and the day-to-day running is coordinated through the Church of St. Paul’s, Milagiriya.the centre is located in a spacious two-storey home, bordered by a generous garden,on Mayura Road, just around the corner from Havelock City. The concept for Hands of Hope was born out of an idea held by a couple with a daughter with Special Needs. They explain that ‘We visited a lot of special-needs homes and noticed that in most places children did a lot of arts and crafts, and that was about it. But, as parents, we have to ask ourselves, when we are no longer around, how will our children support themselves? Will they be independent enough?’ This motivated the central mission of Hands for Hope, which is ‘to create and enhance opportunities for teenagers and young women…to become independent persons achieving their full potential in society.’

On the sunny Wednesday morning when I visit the centre, the girls are having a cookery demonstration. My arrival interrupts the animated dough-rolling and star-cutting as everyone proceeds to tell me about their families and siblings and, of course, to politely inquire after my own. When the cookies are baking, I sit down with the Director of the Centre,

Mala Salgado to hear more about what skills the girls learn at Hands of Hope.

‘We want to give our girls life skills’ the Director, explains. ‘We have art and craft sessions’ she notes with a smile, but in addition to this, the girls are tutored by specialised teachers in dance (by a trainer from the Sunera Foundation), music, computing and cookery. Notably, what is more important than the ‘academic’ skills learnt, is a set of life and behavioural skills or daily living skills which the girls are taught at the centre. ‘We want these girls to be able to look after themselves, and to help their families at home, or their siblings if they end up living with them.’

‘Daily Living Skills’ may sound simple, but Christarine pulls out a ‘checklist’ with a list of skills, which she has designed herself as anassessment tool for every student.

This list has major categories which include eating, drinking, washing, leisure, hygiene and healthcare. Each task is broken into several steps to make it easier for the students to master the skill.

Christarine, who has qualifications in Psychology and Special Needs Education explains why the focus on ‘life skills’ can be so easy to overlook, especially in comparison to academic skills. Why focus on independence? ‘These students are often told, “no you can’t do that”, or “you should not try to do that” but we think it is important—and possible— to equip them with these skills. To teach them instead that they “can”.’

In addition to these general life skills, ‘We work to create individual objectives’the Director explains. So, for example, for one student with cerebral palsy (where motion is impaired), her daily routine has more exercises, which have helped her motor skills.there is also another very hopeful story of a student with a very good facility with mathematics,for whom teachers have designed a training plan which will culminate in the student being competent to take on a role at a shop.in a few years the student will hopefully have the skills to calculate change, write receipts and issue goods, thereby securing meaningful employment in her family business.

How is the Hands of Hope approach best explained? Christarine tells me: ‘everyone has their own strengths. Our approach is to use the student’s unique strengths to work on areas of concern.’ For example, one student insisted on endlessly doing cut-and-paste art and had a very limited vocabulary. So, as a way to teach her words and spelling, the staff had the student cut and paste individual letters into words, which she enjoyed doing, and learned the words in the process!

Perhaps equally as important as skill development, the centre also serves as a social space.this is clearly a place where the girls enjoy spending their mornings. ‘This is a good school. We can learn something new here and the teachers are nice,’ one student tells me cheerfully when I ask about the centre. As I sit with them during a sewing lesson, they prod each other, teasing and prompting each other to talk to me. One student suggests to the other that she tell me about her singing. I am treated to a brief rendition of Edelweiss and Itsy Bitsy Spider, a rather strange combination, but charming nonetheless. Birthday parties are often held at the centre because the guest list usually consists entirely of Hands for Hope participants.

Alongside the Director’s office is the Hands for Hope Charity Shop, where gift tags, greeting cards, gift bags and clothes are available for sale. The cards are carefully bedazzled with sequins, ribbons and coloured stones by the students. These sales help support the venture. In addition to this, Hands for Hope welcomes donations in cash as well as kind.

The concept for Hands of Hope was born out of an idea held by a couple with a daughter with Special Needs