(Above. The field of the Blind School is captured in the early morning sunlight. Photo by author)

September 16th, 2023, a date that was going to happen, did occur, my 18th birthday. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been curious about how my 18th birthday would go, as I was completely unsure of my future then. But I always knew one thing that I would do, for every birthday. For every birthday in my family, we always commit to this act of kindness. The Blind School. (Ceylon School For The Deaf And Blind)

The Blind School of Ratmalana is a school that is near the airforce base, and close to my grandparent’s house. We’ve been engaged with the school for over 40 years through my grandparents and my mom, and will not stop for years to come. My mom used to be a voluntary teacher for the nursery and the Ordinary Levels (more commonly known as “O levels”).

In the early morning of the 16th, we sponsored breakfast and lunch for 80 children at the school. The school has a menu for the week and sponsorships are obtained for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and tea.

We have sponsored meals for all family birthdays and for me, the ritual started when I was 6 months old and was continued on every birthday. Apart from sponsoring the meal/meals on my birthday we also carry out a project and provide the most needed assistance on that day. Some of the special assistance have been providing desks and chairs to classrooms, providing slates and styluses, financial assistance to families during COVID-19, providing a specially prescribed pair of glasses with magnifying lenses, etc.

From my personal thoughts, I think that even as we have been doing this act for years and years, of course it is natural to develop sympathy and think that it would be tough to be in the same room as people who don’t have the same privileges as you. But to me, my family and I are familiar with these kinds of situations, and we treat them as normal people. Of course we acknowledge the fact that they are disabled, but we try to move past it and engage with them normally.