1. Sudana Rodrigo Sahana Foundation
www.sahanasrilanka.org
Barberyn Reef Ayurveda Resort, Beruwala, Sri Lanka
Tel: + 94 34 22 76036, 76134, 76173 Fax: +94 34 22 76037,+94 74 288205
Barberyn Beach Ayurveda Resort, Weligama, Sri Lanka
Tel: + 94 41 22 52994-5, Fax: +94 41 22 52993
E mail: info@sahnasrilanka.org
www.sahanasrilanka.org
Sahana Foundation
Forum Theater Breathes Positive Outcomes as an Adjunctive Therapy in
overcoming Mental Illness
The Sudana Rodrigo Sahana Foundation of Barberyn Ayurveda Resorts is
pleased to announce a Forum Theater performance by Abhina Academy of
Performing Arts at Janakala Kendraya, Battaramulla on Tuesday, 18 June at 5:00pm.
The performance and event will take place under the patronage of the Hon. Mr.
Maithripala Sirisena, Minister of Health, with other senior public service personnel
from the Departments of Social Services, Probation and Child Care Services and the
National Child Protection Authority in attendance.
Additionally, Mental Therapy practitioners as well as academics in the fields of
psychology and medical psychiatry in Sri Lanka will also be in attendance.
Consultant psychiatrists at NIMH, Dr. KapilaRanasinghe, and Dr Neil Fernando have
supported and provided guidance to Abhina Academy on their performances from a
psychiatric, psychological and research perspective.
In endorsing the performance and event, the Sahana Foundation’s key aim is to
provide national awareness of mental illness in Sri Lanka and to remind viewers about
the holistic practice of Ayurveda as a way of life. Ayurveda may be a preventive
response for those at risk for long-term mental illnesses such as Schizophrenia.
The Sahana Foundation and Abhina Academy wholly support the establishment and
sustenance of networks with patients and their families. Both organizations in their
own fundamental ways create conduits to clients and their families in the communities
that they are present in.
In fact, the Abhina Academy of Performing Arts came into being largely as a result of
founder Ms. AnojaWeerasinghe’s personal catharsis in working with tsunami victims.
Ms. Weerasinghe’s artistic mind observed the need for clients to express themselves
in a safe and non-judgmental environment and the obvious benefits to clients as well
as to family members.
Today, Abhina Academy’s mission is to bring awareness to the plight of the mentally
afflicted in the country through the creative channels of drama, yoga and meditation.
With support from sponsors, Abhina Academy conducts the workshops nationally.
The primary goals of the workshops are to attend to the psychosocial needs of the
differently abled as well as bring awareness to the challenges faced by this
community in Sri Lanka.
This is the second drama workshop performance that the Sahana Foundation is
pleased to sponsor and support due to the overwhelming positive response and
outcomes to clients of mental illness and their supportive families.