Child Vision survey identifies five thousand disabled in East

[TamilNet, Saturday, 20 August 2005, 15:16 GMT]
Child Vision, a non-governmental organization has launched a project in the eastern province to identify disabled persons who were affected by tsunami and war and to rehabilitate them. Mr.Rumaiz, Chief Executive of the Child Vision, said that according to a survey conducted so far in 6 divisions in Trincomalee district, 10 in Batticaloa district and 13 in Amparai district, about 5409 persons have been identified with disabilities in the three districts related to visual, speech, hearing, mobility, intellectual, mental illness and other psychological disorders.



Child Vision conducted a survey in this regard in the three districts Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Amparai in the east province to collect information about the people with disabilities, both intellectual and physical and was not limited to children. It also included people who have become disabled as a result of the tsunami, sources said.

Mr.A.C.M.Rumaiz of the Child Vision at an event held in Trincomalee last week handed over the survey report to Ms N.Ranjini, Provincial Commissioner of the North East Child Care and Social Welfare Department. The event was held in the Child Vision Trincomalee office.

Mr.Rumaiz said the survey was conducted in 06 divisions in Trincomalee district, 10 in Batticaloa district and 13 in Amparai district. According to the survey, about 5409 persons have been identified with disabilities in the three districts related to visual, speech, hearing, mobility, intellectual, mental illness and other psychological disorders.

According to the survey in Trincomalee district 1324 have been identified, 2005 in Batticaloa and 2080 in Amparai, Mr.Rumaiz said.

The Child Vision has formulated short and long term projects to rehabilitate these disabled persons, he added.

Provincial Commissioner Ms.Ranjini commended the services of the Child Vision for having conducted a survey and compiled a report in regard to people live with disabilities due to war and tsunami in the province.

She said government departments in the province in past also collected data of the disabled persons through village level officers. But those reports were incomplete. However volunteers of NGOs were able collect more details in this regard because they visit and mingle with the affected families during the survey, she said.

Child Vision was established in 1996 with its headquarters in Puttalam and branches in Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Amparai. The main objective of the Child Vision is to focus on the children who were at risk of abuse and neglect due to their displacement, sources said.

The Child Vision has expanded its operation to eastern province following tsunami and began its needs assessment of people with disabilities in February this year, sources said

North East Provincial Council, Sight Saver International and the UNHCR support the project.