It takes the moon and twinkling stars, to make the heavens grow
It takes a wish plus lot of work, to make a dream come true
To make lives with people with disabilities, please give them employment opportunities"
Gunaratne had worked for two private companies before she experienced the shock of becoming disabled, going blind in 2000 because of a genetic disorder for which there is no cure.
She later went for rehabilitation but was rejected several times when she sought employment again.
She has come a long way since, and now works as a Junior Executive for the Employer’s Federation of Ceylon (EFC), where she has been for six years.
Gunaratne has won numerous international and local awards, including the award for the world winner of Hand for Light Study Tour, Diriya Kantha 2007.
At present she is the South Asian representative for the Asian Blind Union Women’s Forum and President of the Colombo district Sri Lanka federation of the visually handicapped, among many other posts.
All she asks for is an attitude change from the people.
"The message I would like to give to the society is that attitudes should change from sympathy to empathy, dependence to independence," says Gunaratne.
However, changes are in the air and more opportunities have been created for the disabled to come forward and lead more meaningful lives.
The Employers’ Network on Disability looks to improve the standards for the disabled in Sri Lanka by encouraging employers to pay them more attention.
"We are looking to create equal opportunities and stop the marginalization of the disabled," says the Coordinator of the Employers’ Network on Disability Meghamali Aluwihare.
"We started this network with 15 steering companies and now it has grown up to 30 companies."
And there is a growing number of organizations moving rapidly to support, encourage and get the disabled employed.
"We have the group called the motivation group which works to train the disabled on how to get a job and then how to keep a job,”"says the President of the Disability Organizations, Cyril Siriwardena.
"We have secured employment for about 250 disabled persons through job fairs we hold through Employer’s Network on Disability."
Telling the story from the other side, employers say that to employ the disabled does not mean the need to take drastic measures.
"We do not have to take overpowering measures to employ them," says the CEO of Standard Chartered Bank, Clive Haswell.
Standard Chartered Bank recently employed two disabled employees at their call centre.
"It has been a very pleasant experience. The staff is interacting well with them and we are quite happy that we were able to employ them," Haswell says.
Leading firms in Sri Lanka have begun giving employment to disabled people as a conscious policy to support an otherwise marginalized group and invite more such people to join them.
MAS Holdings, ID Lanka, and CEI Plastics are some of the companies who have made significant contributions to the cause of giving employment to disabled people.
Yet there are still areas where the able are left in the dark.
"The employers’ still think that the visually handicapped can only work as telephone operators but there are 44 areas where they can be employed," says Gunaratne.
It is not just the visually impaired persons who can be employed, the Employers’ Network on Disability points out.
Another problem is that of the disabled themselves not coming forward and seeking employment opportunities.
"We advertised in the 'Jobsnet' website for three months without much result. Also, the parents too seem to be very protective of their children and do not want to send them out," says Aluwihare, coordinator of the Employers’ Network on Disability.
"They need role models to build confidence."
Well, all they can do is to take a good look at the Diriya Kantha, Manique Gunaratne.
Some efforts of the disabled support groups are also getting their due recognition after years of striving.
New government regulations on improving accessibility for the disabled were passed in March 2007 making it compulsory for all public buildings to have accessibility means for the disabled within three years.
Also, the regulations make it mandatory for all new public buildings to have accessibility for the disabled.
“We seem to have the necessary legal frame work in place but lack of education and disabling through marginalization has to be overcome,” says Haswell of Standard Chartered Bank.
He says employers need to educate their staff and get the disabled involved in working environments that would make their lives better.
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