The month of March marks the end of yet another busy three months for us RCUOCFMFers. We were able to complete a number of successful projects in all avenues and re-launch our infamous blog as well! Here’s a detailed a look at how the third quarter was for us!
Happy Street Pooch
Happy Street Pooch, a project aimed at helping the dogs and cats in and around the University of Colombo, was held for the third consecutive year on the 16th of March with much success. Similar to the previous couple of years, we vaccinated quite a number of dogs and cats within the University premises with the help of officials from the Colombo Municipal Council. We also did not forget to treat our furry friends with food, thus helping them be both healthy and happy!
A special thank you goes out to the officials of the Colombo Municipal Council and Rtr. Ruchika Senaratne and Rtr. Krishmal Fernando for organizing and executing this worthy project!
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| A happy pooch being fed |
Harithalokaya
Harithalokaya was a project which focused on developing a sustainable plan for proper waste management within the coastal belt, thus addressing one of UNEP s emerging issues of environmental concerns; micro plastics.
The project comprised of three phases. The first of which was conducting a survey within an area of 2.5 km along the Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia coastal belt covering around 300 families, on how waste materials including plastics end up in the coastal areas and what the waste management methods used in those areas are.
The club conducted the survey on the 6th of March and we were able to uncover that the residential areas were unclean due to the lack of a proper garbage disposal system which resulted in most residents throwing garbage to the sea, burying garbage in the beach or burning them.
These findings gave rise to the second phase of the project, which was to build awareness among the residents on proper waste management and garbage disposal. An awareness program was held on the 25th of March, at which the residents were registered to provide garbage bins and were informed of the garbage collection mechanism formulated with the help of the Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia Municipal Council. The residents were briefed on how to properly separate and dispose the garbage and what they can do to mitigate the risks associated with improper garbage disposal and waste management.
The final phase of the project which is to distribute bins among registered residents is scheduled to be held on the month of April.
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| Awareness programme held to educate the residents in Dehiwala |
Joint Meeting
The joint meeting of the four Rotaract Clubs of the University of Colombo; Faculty of Management and Finance, Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Law and Faculty of Science and the Rotaract Club of Colombo West was held on the 22nd of January 2016, at the FTMS Global Academy, Colombo 4.
The first item on the agenda was the general meetings of the five clubs, where the respective Presidents made announcements of the upcoming projects, followed by the District announcements. Next was the ‘Presidents of the month’ session where our very own Rtr. Akhila Wijetunga and Rtr. Malith Nirmal conducted an ice breaker, giving the members of the five clubs a perfect opportunity to get to know each other better and have fun at the same time. Read more.
Club Party
The 10th of February was a memorable night for all of us RCUOCFMFers, as our club party was held for the 6th consecutive year with the participation of both current and past club members.
This year, the party was held at the Beach House Bistro, Dehiwala and was filled with good company, music and food, giving the members an opportunity to enjoy themselves to their heart’s consent.
Many games such as musical chairs and paper dancing added color to the night and Secret Valentine was one of the highlights of the evening, as it created suspense in all those who received gifts. Furthermore, it was an important night for the club Blog as well, since it was re-launched with a new outlook to give our readers a whole new blog experience.
Kudos to the organizing committee headed by the Co-chairpersons Rtr. Akshana Perera and Rtr. Yasitha De Silva, for pulling off a great party! Read more.
Rotaract Champions League
The Rotaract Champions League, the annual sporting extravaganza of the Rotaract District 3220, was held across three days; 5th, 18th & 19th of February and our club was given the responsibility of hosting athletics and cricket.
The 3 day sporting event provided young Rotaractors an opportunity to display their skills in the sporting arena and all the clubs welcomed the challenge of being the ‘Champion’ with open arms. Amidst the scorching sun and the heavy rain alike, all participants and their cheering squads ended up having a great time!
Car Wash
The car wash, one of the most anticipated annual projects in our Rotaract calendar, was held on the 26th of February, at the BRC Grounds. This is a special project for or club as it is the very first project that is solely organized by the second-year club members.
This time around it was named ‘Wash for a cause’ as all the proceeds will be used to fund our signature Community Service project ‘Future for us’, which is aimed at improving the soft skills of the less privileged students.
With immense commitment and dedication of the project committee as well the participants, this project turned out to be a huge success as we were able to collect more than what we targeted for.
We would like to extend our heartiest congratulations to the Co-chairpersons Rtr. Poornima Gamage and Rtr. Kasun Wijerathne and all the second year RCUOCFMFers for a job well done! Read more.
R-evolution
R-Evolution is an International non-technical quiz competition conducted by the Rotaract Club of D.Y. Patil Vidya Pratishthan (RCDYPVP), Pune, India. We conducted the first round of the competition; a pen and paper test in Sri Lanka, with the participation of more than 20 teams of Rotaractors and non-rotaractors. This successful first round was held on 6th of February, at the University of Colombo, Faculty of Management and Finance premises.
The top 2 teams which consisted of Rtr. Meshini Kudahetti, Rtr. Sandunika Wijebandara, Rtr. Saroos Jazeem, and Rtr. Amry Asif accepted the challenge and flew to India to take part in the International round of R-Evolution. The visit was from the 17th to 20th February and the competition was held on 19th February at the Dr. D. Y Patil Institute of Technology, Pimpri, Pune.
For the finale and the International round of the competition, the national winners of India competed with the teams from other countries. It was quite exciting; the buzzer was used and questions were from IQ and General Knowledge covering different areas. A team from Bangalore won the 1st place while the first runners-up and the second runners up was secured by a team from Hydrabad and our own RCUOCFMF team!
Dancepiration
Dancepiration was a dancing workshop held on the 25th of March for all the dancing enthusiasts out there and it was organized with the objective of educating the undergraduates on different dancing styles and broadening their cultural exposure. This fun filled yet educating workshop was conducted by the well-known professional choreographer Mr. Hiran Wijesekara, with the participation of not only the club members, but many people who were keen on learning more about dancing.
Throughout the workshop, participants were able to learn the basics of different dancing styles like kathak, bollywood and contemporary as well as how to show the facial expressions while encouraging and increasing the participants’ confidence to take part in dancing events.
Public Speaking Workshop
“Discover Yourself”, the public speaking workshop organized under the Professional Development avenue of our club in collaboration of the Gavel Club of University of Colombo, was held on the 11th of March, at the University of Colombo, Faculty of Management and Finance premises.
With the goals of improving the public speaking skills, eliminating the fear instilled within potential young speakers and ensuring that they understand the value of this skill if used effectively, this workshop was led by a very esteemed panel of speakers which consisted of DTM Chathura Sooriyaarachchi, TM Farhan Imamudeen and TM Niranjan de Silva.
Throughout the workshop, the participants were given invaluable lessons on how to be comfortable on stage, the styles and techniques of Public Speaking and the importance of public speaking for a successful corporate journey. A special acknowledgement should be given to the Rtr. Senuri Suriarachchi and her committee for organizing such a great project. Read more.
As we always say, every quarter is an exciting quarter for our RCUOCFMF blog and this quarter is no different. We started this quarter very successfully by re-launching our blog with a new and easy-to-navigate look, which will give us the opportunity to give a better blog experience to our readers. At the same time, we were able to surpass the 50000 view count and now at the end of March, we have surpassed 64000 views making the end of this quarter special as well.
Our club members and our blog readers, we would like to extend our appreciation for your continuous support and motivation for without your support, we wouldn’t be here.
