Following article was published in “The Island” newspaper   on 12th October 2008 and it was written by Sujeeva Nivunhella.    The writer interviewed me during my last visit to London in year 2008.

Having published this article he introduced me to Mr. Dhammika Syripala, A key member of Ranaviru Fund (UK).  There after, the Ranaviru fund helped me to establish a resource center at Ranaviru Sevana Ragama for the benefit of blind soldiers of Sri Lanka army.

The resource center   equips with many items that have specially been designed for blind and those items were bought from Royal national institute for blind (RNIB) – UK.

Read more about Ranaviru fund and the resource center at

http://www.ranavirufund.org/newsandevents.html

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Seated calmly in the front row of the ‘Api Wenuwen Api’ cultural show in London was a young man wearing dark glasses. People threw curious glances at him. Naturally, as he was the only one wearing glasses inside a dark hall with a brightly lit-up stage.

After the intermission, he was guided to the stage to help with the raffle draw. Major Dushyantha Yapa is blind. He had been critically injured during the ‘Jayasikuru’ military operation against the LTTE and had lost his eye sight due to injuries sustained on his face.

He made brief mention of his injury and said that he was in London to do Archery. Yapa was born on June 14, 1974 in Dankotuwa and studied at the JosephVazCollege, Wennappuwa. His father Captain Samarasingha Yapa was also in the Army.

“We fought a fierce battle to capture Mankulam. I was injured in that battle”.

Dushyantha said he had undergone surgery in India but it was not successful. He had also got his eyes checked at the Guilford hospital in England. “Apparently my optical nerves have been damaged. That is why it’s difficult to restore my sight”.

“However, when I compare mine with other disabilities, I could still do all my work independently in a known environment. I haven’t got any physical pain.

The only pain I have is a mental one. When I go to a new place, I have to figure out the environment. They say ‘A picture speaks a thousand words’. That means I need a thousand words to figure out a new place. However, living with limitations, we should be able to overcome problems”.

During the rehabilitation programme, Dushyantha had been sent to the Blind Council in SlaveIsland. He found out that there is a way of using the computer for the visually impaired although he had never tried his hand at one before.

He managed to learn how to use a computer skillfully and has been appointed head of the IT department in Ranaviru Sevana. A part of his duties is to teach blind people how to use computers.

Dushyantha was a good athlete. After the injury he wanted to do athletics again. Gradually his trainers were able to make him run again. In 2003, Dushyantha managed to win the 100m, 200m track events and the long jump at the Army sports meet in the disabled section. He also managed to win all these three events at the All Island National Athletic Meet creating new records. Since then no one has beaten him.

In 2004, CaptainDickLake, the head of the St. Dunstant Centre in Brighton in England visited Ranaviru Sevana. This centre helps former Blind British servicemen. After leaving Sri Lanka, CaptainLake corresponded with Dushyantha through e mails. One day, Dushyantha received an email from the Captain inviting him to an Archery week at the St. Dunstant Centre. Dushyantha accepted the invitation and participated. He was invited again this year.

“I am the only blind person in Sri Lanka who does both Archery and Air Riffle Shooting”, Dushyantha said with pride.

Talking about the ‘Api Wenuwen Api’ cultural programme in the UK, he said that it was nice to see that people think about the service personnel who fight to safeguard the country. He thanked the expatriate community in the UK.

Asked how one can help blind ex servicemen, he said, “If an individual or an organization can provide new technology that’s available for the blind, it will be easy for them to lead their day today lives. This is better than to just pat your back and say “well done”.

The Island article can be found from

http://www.island.lk/2008/10/12/news17.html