- For persons with disability returns
- 450 para-athletes from across the island expected
The Colombo Friend-in-Need Society (CFINS), Sri Lanka’s oldest charitable organisation, is set to host the 2026 edition of AIDEX – Aid to the Ex-Abled, its annual sports festival for persons with disabilities, on 20 September at the Rifle Green Grounds, Air Force Headquarters, Colombo 2.
Supported by Dilmah’s MJF Charitable Foundation, the event is expected to bring together around 450 athletes from across the country, including armed forces veterans who lost limbs in service, civilians who have undergone amputations, and children born with congenital differences.
Many of the competitors use Jaipur Limb prosthetics, which CFINS has provided free of charge to more than 40,000 amputees since 1984 as part of its rehabilitation programme.
The competition will begin at 9 a.m. with bicycle races and continue throughout the day with more than 60 track and field events, including sprints, long jump, discus and shot put. Wheelchair races and archery will also be held across different age categories, ranging from children to veteran competitors. The sports meet is expected to conclude at around 4 p.m.
First held in 1991 as part of CFINS’s rehabilitation programme for amputees fitted with Jaipur Limbs, AIDEX has been held annually for more than three decades.
Dilmah, through the MJF Charitable Foundation, has supported the festival since its inception. The Foundation also provides an average of 75 scholarships annually to children from the CFINS community with limb differences or amputations.
Through its Small Entrepreneur Programme, the Foundation has also provided equipment and business grants to 128 persons with disabilities since 2012, supporting beneficiaries in developing livelihoods beyond the sporting arena.
“AIDEX is not a story about disability; it is a celebration of ability. Every year, this field reminds Colombo of what our athletes can do, not what they cannot,” said Prof. A. H. Sheriffdeen, Patron of CFINS.
MJF Charitable Foundation Trustee Dilhan C. Fernando said AIDEX reflected the organisation’s commitment to dignity and opportunity for persons with disabilities.
“My father, Merrill J. Fernando, always believed that business must be a matter of human service, and that Purpose has its place alongside Taste and Goodness in our core function,” he said.
He added that AIDEX had carried that vision onto the sports field every September for more than three decades, while providing an opportunity for persons with disabilities to demonstrate their abilities.