Around the Pearl 2016 to provide 1,000 more wheelchairs for children with Cerebral Palsy

By Shannine Daniel 

‘Around the Pearl 2016’ will take place for the third consecutive year, aiming to raise enough funds to provide a further 1,000 wheelchairs for children affected by Cerebral Palsy (CP).

The 10-day bicycle tour ride around the coast of Sri Lanka commences on 7 April and is to conclude on 17 April.  Over 30 riders both local and international will take part in the 1,400 km bicycle that will take the cyclists to all corners of the country.

‘Around the Pearl’ is a programme done by ‘Wheels for Wheels’ which is an initiative conducted in partnership with the Cerebral Palsy Lanka Foundation (CPLF) and WrooM, a cycling community. 

Furthermore with a new main sponsor, Australian Property Consultancy, on board, the event hopes to generate a greater level of awareness amongst the Australian donor community. All proceeds from this event will be donated to CPLF. 

Cerebral Palsy (CP) is a group of non-progressive, permanent movement disorders that appear in early childhood, caused by abnormal development or damage to the parts of the brain that control movement, balance, and posture. CP is a common physical disability that affects many children and is caused by events before, during or after birth. 

“There are 17 million children in the world with Cerebral Palsy and the numbers are definitely increasing,” says CPLF Founder and Director Gopi Kitnasamy. 

Approximately 12-15 per 1,000 births in Sri Lanka could result in children affected by CP , however in the developed world it is as low as six per 1,000 births. 

“There are an estimated 40,000 children with Cerebral Palsy in Sri Lanka,” stated Kitnasamy. 

In Sri Lanka, CP remains a significant health problem and because of a lack of funds many parents are unable to provide the much needed care for children with CP. Moreover due to the negative attitude towards having a differently-abled child many parents in Sri Lanka keep their children hidden from the eyes of the public. 

The main objective of the ‘Around the Pearl’ journey is to bring an end to the social stigma around Cerebral Palsy in Sri Lanka and on the other hand raise the much needed awareness and funds to assist the children suffering from the disorder.

“What we realised was that there is a lot of children out in the villages in particular whose parents keep them inside rooms simply because they think that there is no point in bringing them out,” revealed Capital Alliance Managing Director Ajith Fernando.

Fernando further stated that while some of these parents genuinely could not afford a wheelchair, others did not exactly see the need of spending money on a wheelchair and chose to purchase other items for their homes. 

“This is not just a wheelchair that we were providing; it is a window into the world. These are children who understand everything that’s going on and they are kept locked up in a room for no fault of theirs,” he opined.

By giving each of these children a wheelchair the project gives them an opportunity to get out of their homes and mix with society. This may also influence their parents to take them to school because the wheelchair makes the parents’ lives also a lot easier, added Kitnasamy

He went on to say that the wheelchairs provided are not normal wheelchairs  but specialised ones that include a hand brake, additional straps and wedges and a host of other features  to support and keep the child in the same position for a long time.  

“It’s not just an instrument of mobility; it’s a part of their body,” stated Kitnasamy.  

Furthermore Kitnasamy spoke about the camps that are conducted by Around the Pearl, saying that a proper assessment of each child is done before a wheelchair is provided. 

“We do an assessment because there is no point in giving a wheelchair to a child who will be walking in the next six months or one year. That is a crime,” he professed. 

Kitnasamy also went to state that at these camps the parents are trained on how to use a wheelchair. A thorough training is given to all parents because most of these children can’t propel the wheelchair by themselves and it has to be propelled by someone else.  Additional dental health checkups are also provided to these children because most of them have oral hygiene problems as well, and even their vision is tested.

From this year onwards a full check up will be given to each and every child attending these camps, emphasised Kitnasamy.

Considering the program design of Around the Pearl there will be three events this year in Sri Lanka along with a bicycle ride and a charity dinner in Melbourne to support Wheel for Wheels. The foundation’s goal is to raise funds for wheelchairs as well as to obtain technical expertise and knowledge transfer from the Melbourne CP foundation. 

The 10-day ride includes two days of camping which will showcase the beauty of Sri Lanka to the world as a sport tourist destination. The Chalai Challenge, a 112 km off-road race through an uncharted coastal route will target 20 international riders and 50 local riders and will be a new calendar event for Around the Pearl this year. 

The Colombo City Charity Ride targeting donors will engage the affluent locals, tourists and non-resident Sri Lankans. During the 10-day ride, five Cerebral Palsy Camps have been planned to be conducted which aims to donate over 500 wheelchairs to these living with CP at grassroots level. Additionally, special camps to raise awareness about cerebral palsy will be conducted in Galle, Batticaloa and Colombo.

“We feel honoured to participate in the ‘Around the Pearl’ initiative for the third consecutive year. Last year’s bicycle ride was an immense success and we were able to provide 1,000 children suffering from cerebral palsy with greater mobility and freedom,” asserted Fernando.

Pix by Sameera Wijesinghe