Welisara/Sri Lanka – In a rare scene, blind ladies work in a small garment factory near the city of Welisara in Sri Lanka, as most of them come from far and remote areas.
Ms. Shameen Felaldeen who works as an Administrative Supervisor and is the only non-blind person in the factory came up with the idea of establishing the project from her desire in doing a social service.
In the beginning, Felaldeen had faced a major challenge in providing the necessary training for the blind ladies to qualify them on the sewing machine. She was able to overcome this challenge through the work of talented women in sewing intricate designs that are challenging even for people who can see.
The hard work of blind women in the factory is a valuable lesson to society in developing their skills without being a burden to anyone, in addition to improving the income of their families.
The Garment Industry in Sri Lanka constitutes a high percentage of the composition of exports and GDP.
The Administrative supervisor said that “the company started working in 2019, and by then the blind ladies had no clue on how to use the sewing machine, but with time and training, all of them became skilled seamstresses”, adding that she seeks to show their skills of each individual, and provide them with the necessary support.
“We believe that ‘visually impaired or not, everyone has their own talents that must be identified. People with visual impairments do not need sympathy; they want to ‘stand up independently. We hope you all support them,” said Shameen Felaldeen, Trustee of the institution speaking to A24 News Agency.
Some seamstresses in the factory expressed their determination and insistence to succeed, conveying a message to the visually impaired people to trust their talents and conquer fears despite everything.
“The message to the visually impaired is: Others will say: you can’t do that, give up. But what they say is so out of ignorance. Work with the determination that I must do this without heeding what they say. Do not depend on anyone. Stand up for yourself independently.”
“Even those without physical disabilities tend to rely on subsidies. Very sorry about that, But we all have some talent. Anyone can be successful if they identify and develop that talent by themselves.”
