Ruvinika, 14, holds the purple chalk tight between her fingers and draws. Drawing is her favourite and she has already finished a whole book, filling its blank pages with colours.

“I never thought she would move her hands, leave out drawing,” says her mother as she watches her with a smile.

Ruvinika lives with cerebral palsy and a psychosocial impairment. For a long time she found it difficult to move her hands and difficult to speak.

“When she was born, we didn’t know that she would have difficulties, although she was very late in crawling, sitting up, standing, walking and doing the things other toddlers her age would do,” says the mother, “but towards the second year, she began to bend her hands and keep them tightly clutched to her chest. She also lost control of her jaws and kept getting drenched in salaiva. There was nothing the doctors could do.”

“It was not very easy going out in public with Ruvinika. People stared at her with amusement, some moved away thinking she would hurt them... it hurt me really badly,” she says.

“Every parent wants their child to be healthy, and there was a time in Kotavehera when parents could not accept a child with a disability to the family. There were families who separated because of the birth of a disabled child,” says Prasanna Hettiarachchi, the Assistant Director for Zonal Education who is specialised in special education.

“But most parents, like Ruvinika’s mother, are frightened of the reactions their child might receive from the community,” says Prasanna.

A breakthrough was needed not only in the families, but also in the community and the school was found to be the best place to help children with disabilities integrate with society.

“It was a long process. When the parents began to accept their children and agreed to send them to school, the schools were not yet ready. We did not have the facilities and the trained teachers. There was preparation needed on the part of the whole school,” says Prasanna.

“That’s where we received World Vision support;” he says, “World Vision funded the training of teachers for special education, and helped to equip us with little things like building a classroom or making an access path for children in wheel chairs which made a big difference.”

Today 13 schools in Kotavehera include children with disabilities. These students learn writing and numbers in a special education classroom and join along with their other classmates for all aesthetic and creative activities including drawing, painting, music and dancing.

“Before we started mainstreaming, there were around 200 children with disabilities in this area who for various reasons could not access education. Today, we have seen children get through to high school in this system, even to university,” says Prasanna.

Ruvinika is now enrolled in Kobeigane School’s special education unit. With the support and care of her dedicated teacher, she is now able to move and work with her hands. Through many exercises, the teacher has helped her gain control of her jaws too.

“I was so worried about the rejection Ruvinika would face someday, but not anymore,” says Ruvinika’s mother. “She already has friends and a community that associates her and cares for her.”

Ruvinika may learn more slowly than her peers, but she is a part of a class of students where she is known by her name and no longer by her disability or need. She has many friends who have even helped her overcome her fear of the swing. Ruvinika already speaks a few words and understands well and is loved and accepted in her community.

The Tangerine forum on education for the disabled grew out of the achievements of Kotavehera. Tangerine, funded by World Vision with island-wide government participation, created a new policy that every child should be included in school, and that barriers, both physical and psychological, should be removed to make it possible.

Today, 100% of children with disabilities in this community are now attending school.