It’s not every day you go to an evening ball and leave having been blown away by the words of an eight-year-old, but that’s what happened to many at this year’s Diplomatic Ball in December.
The ball raised money for TIPES — Thinking in Pictures Educational Services — which offers more than a dozen educational programs to children, adolescents and adults with “exceptionalities,” 90 per cent of which are autism. Programs include applied behavioural analysis, intensive behavioural intervention therapies and social integration.
The eight-year-old boy was a client of TIPES and, as he explained, he was non-verbal two years ago and TIPES changed his life to the point where he could stand and give a speech in front of hundreds of well-heeled adults.
“The TIPES people were worried he’d be nervous so we had a plan B, but he was just fine,” said Honduran Ambassador Sofia Cerrato, vice-president of the Ottawa Diplomatic Association (ODA). “He read his speech and thanked everyone.”
During the ball’s planning stages, Macedonian Ambassador Toni Dimovski introduced TIPES to the executive of the ODA, which produces the annual ball.
“We really liked the work they’re doing,” Cerrato said. “They have lots of kids on a waiting list and don’t have the space for everyone, so we wanted to help with that. We had some proposals from other groups, but we liked this one the best.”
The diplomats asked all participating missions to donate items for a silent auction and many did. “Cuba came up with a week in a hotel; we got wine from Uruguay and Argentina, Pisco Sours from Peru, wine from Bolivia,” Cerrato said, and added that in all, there were four different vacations offered, including one to Jamaica. In addition, TIPES collected its own silent auction items.
At the end of the December evening, they had raised $11,000 for TIPES and money continued to filter in, even into the new year.
“It was really nice to see how the embassies came forward to help out,” Cerrato said, and added that the hotel had to add extra tables because there were so many silent auction items.
“It was the best one we’ve had so far,” she said.
Some TIPES clients are artists, so they also had an exhibit of their work, with the artists present. The paintings were for sale and some people, such as the ambassador of Costa Rica, bought works from the artists, who took home the proceeds after giving a small percentage to TIPES.
“We were quite honoured that so many diplomats supported such a great cause,” said Deborah Wyatt, director of education at TIPES. “It was nice to get that kind of support. There were 250 people who came out. We’d like to thank all of them.”
