The Dr.Reijntjes School for the Deaf in Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, started in 1984 with 8 deaf ...
The deaf girls like to play volleyball in their free time and the deaf boys play cricket...
Dat betekent dat er in de loop der jaren een gespecialiseerd team is opgebouwd om de groep van 100 dove ...
News Letters
Newsletter of Period January to June 2010
July 28, 2011, 6:45 AM
On June 15th Dr. Reijntjes, the Patron of the Dr. Reijntjes Foundation in the Netherlands, passed away at the age of 95 years.
Dr. Reijntjes played an important rule for Tineke de Silva and the Dr. Reijntjes School for the Deaf. The School was named after him.
See also article www.schoolforthedeaf.lk
• The new school year started on Sunday, January 10th. All the parents were invited with their children for a special Parents Day. An “Almsgiving” (lunch) for 30 monks was organized with the help of the parents. After that there was a lunch for all the 100 parents with their deaf children.
• This month a lot of Dutch donors visited our School. As the war is over people are not afraid anymore to visit Sri Lanka again.
• Six of our pupils got hearing aids from the Dutch Organization Liliane Fonds. Two people of the Liliane Fonds visited the School. They donated a wheel chair to a handicapped person.
• On March 2nd we got the sad message that Mr. Tamme Smit from Rolde, the Netherlands, had passed away. He was a good sponsor of our Deaf School and helped a lot of poor people in Sri Lanka by providing them houses.
• Tineke de Silva’s birth day was celebrated on March 5th. The school garden looked like a “Fun Park” with castles to jump, a Mary go round, a magician, popcorn, snacks and drinks. It was a marvelous day!
• Mid March a fire broke out behind one of the washing machines. Luckily our Scottish volunteer, Fiona, detected it in time. For a moment there was panic, but soon the fire gadgets were used, which were hanging on several places in the buildings since 2 years. There was not a big damage.
• Suranga Nanayakkara, the student from the Singapore University who did research in our Deaf School, married in the Galle Face Hotel Colombo. He came together with his bride Melani and Professor Wyse from the same university to visit our deaf children.
• A beautiful colourful play house was installed in the auditorium. It was a gift from a group of Dutch people organized by Betty van der Hoogte.
• In April we celebrated the Sinhala and Tamil New Year with the pupils. They also went home for a short holiday.
• At the end of April there was a two days “Kite Work Shop” in the School attended by 22 of our deaf pupils. The initiative came from Dr. Mariska Driessen who was also the sponsor of this Project. The aim is to raise Fund for the Liliane Fonds. Two famous artists from the Netherlands, Gerdine Duijsens and Hans van Horck came to Sri Lanka together with the manager Michel van Haren. On April 23rd we had a very colourful opening of the work shop by H.E. Mrs. Leoni Cuelenaere, the Ambassador for the Netherlands in Colombo. The two days of painting were a real happening in the School. The artists painted themselves also a giant kite. In 6 countries this same work shop will take place and 144 kites will be painted. When all the kites are ready, there will be a gala evening in the Netherlands and all the kites, painted by handicapped children, will be auctioned. Also Calendars 2011 and cards will be printed from the same designs.
• In May five of the deaf girls started with an afternoon class in dress making and embroidery at a “Fashion Academy” in Moratuwa. They are very enthusiast and made already wonderful creations.
• After the last monsoon there were a lot of cases of dengue fever in Sri Lanka. So far no cases in our Deaf School. We decided to start a big cleaning up in the school garden with all the staff members and children. We were cutting trees, cleaned gutters and drains etc. And now we hope it is a safe place!
• One of our senior teachers Chintha married on May 20th in Ratnapura. She will stay to teach in our School.
• At the end of May Dance Group NATANDA started with the training of our deaf children for a special performance next spring in a theater in Colombo. The director of the group, Mr. Kapila, told that this is their first confrontation with deaf children and a beautiful challenge.
