Latest initiative from Soma Edirisinghe:

A golden mission for healing hearts

Ruwini JAYAWARDANA

Life is full of challenges which can either make you or break you. This proverb takes on a whole new meaning when encountering EAP Group Chairperson Soma Edirisinghe. The warm-hearted businesswoman had launched yet another campaign to serve the needy and those who are desperately in need of help.

Deepa Edirisinghe	Soma Edirisinghe. Pictures by Saman Sri Wedage

Her latest project connected with social welfare activities is aimed at lending a soothing hand to heart patients. Named 'Punarjeewa Soma Edirisinghe Fund' the project is affiliated to the Janasarana Foundation to mark its fifth anniversary. She is also the founder and president of the Janasarana Foundation which had breathed new life to the poor.

"I received lots of letters from those who are urgently seeking help. They all are heart patients and they need to undergo special operations to carry on with their lives. I was moved by their woeful tales and put forward the concept to the committee. They too agreed to team up together and work towards funding the operations," she related how the heart-warming project took shape.

Launched in September 2008, the Punarjeewa Fund is funded by both the rich and poor in providing monetary support to heart, kidney and liver patients who are unable to undergo surgery due to financial difficulties. It also had a project which had received Parliamentary approval through the Soma Edirisinghe Fund (Incorporation) Act, No 34 of 2008.

They have organized the 'Walk for New Life' a campaign to raise funds for the Punarjeewa Fund. Participants are requested to meet at Roxy Cinema, Wellawatta, on October 31 at 8 a.m. Then the group hopes to make their way to Conimara Reception Hall, Dehiwala.

The event is organized together with the Social Services and Social Welfare Ministry and the International Lions Clubs District 306 C-2. Edirisinghe's daughter, Deepa Edirisinghe, the Directress of Edirisinghe Trust Investments Ltd will be organizing the event with Nawaloka Hospitals Plc Marketing Head Ravi Masakorala.

She says: "After the campaign took off and was popularized through the media many contacted me and expressed their support. The Bank of Ceylon even donated a bank account. We ventured to various areas of the island and collected money from the urban as well as the rural areas. The Nawaloka group approached us and said they will perform the operations and take care of the patient's living conditions after the operation had been performed free of charge. We only need the expenses to perform the operations," she explained adding that the project serves as a pillar of support to the President's Fund.

The team had previously joined some of the events conducted for World Heart Day which falls on September 27. They took part in the first 'Heart Walk' organized by the Health Ministry and the Private Health Regulatory Council with the Nawaloka Hospital last year. Later they conducted their first fund raisers at Meegoda and Ratnapura.

As the founder and president of the Janasarana Foundation she had spearheaded projects like donating wheel chairs, artificial limbs and crutches, walking aids and tricycles to the physically handicapped, sewing machines, bicycles, three wheelers, exercise books, shoes, school uniforms, sports gear, computers, buses and many more equipment to schools as well as those who were seeking a means of self employment. She even built computer training centers, vocational training centers and tube wells for the destitute and donated medical equipment to war heroes.

"The poor people have a good heart because they do not forget that you have been with them at their moment of need. They have thanked me endlessly and showered their blessings," she spoke through experience. Their next step is to initiate an eye hospital in Gothatuwa. The idea flowed out through encountering many cataract patients during their mobile eye clinic programs.

She hails from Meegoda and comes from a family of ten: nine girls and one boy. Her father, Charles Perera, was a landed proprietor and businessman while her mother, Alyssa Perera, was a housewife. The young lass schooled at Dharmapala Vidyalaya, Pannipitiya, and St. John's College, Nugegoda.

Recalling her childhood experiences she said that she had been a bundle of mischief at school. However it was her religious upbringing which shaped her character and urged her to help the less fortunate.

"Those days many of the leading film stars were based in Nugegoda. I used to pick fruits from our garden and make my way to their homes. I was star struck by Hubert M. Seneviratne, Rukmani Devi, Lina de Silva, Pushpa Janet, Ananda Jayaratne and others," she added, recalling how ecstatic she had become when she saw all the actors on her wedding day!

She had married renowned film producer Premalal Edirisinghe and had led a very carefree life for a few years. After his death her life took a completely different turn as she had to mould herself to take up the reins of the family business.

"I was not at all familiar with the ropes of the business world and many tried to lead me astray. Step by step I learned from my mistakes. Time management is a crucial point. It is because I took wise decisions that I can celebrate my victory," she added with a note of triumph.

Today she is one of the leading business women in the island, a leader and the former District Governor of Lions Clubs International District 306C. She had produced some of the most success Sinhala films and attributes her success to the fact that she discusses the projects in advance with the director and never interferes in-between.

She is the mother of four: Jeewaka, Deepa, Nalaka and Asanka and the grandmother of 11. She says that her children had been the foundation of her success.

"We have a very good working relationship with our mother and she has many words of wisdom to offer. I would like to invite people to come forward and join us in making a better life for the needy and the helpless," her daughter, Deepa who had wanted to venture to the finance sector but had ended up taking the helm as one of directors of the EAP Group, she added.