“Understanding languages and other cultures build bridges. It is the fastest way to bring the world closer together and to Truth. Through understanding, people will be able to see their similarities before differences.”
― Suzy Kassem
Through its fellowship of business, professional, and community leaders, Rotaract has always been striving forward on the mission of providing services to others, promoting integrity, and advancing world understanding, goodwill, and peace. On this course, Rotaract has set the “World Peace” emerges from greater cultural understanding and awareness on a global scale. Some of our fellow clubs came together to contribute to the improvement of this sector. Here’s a brief overview of a couple of the projects that were honoured during the 31st Rotaract District Assembly in the category of “Most Impactful International Service Initiative”.
රොටරැක්ට් සමාජය ව්‍යාපාරික, වෘත්තීයමය සහ ප්‍රජා නායකයින්ගේ සහයෝගීතාව තුළින් අන් අයට සේවා සැපයීම, අඛණ්ඩතාව ප්‍රවර්ධනය කිරීම සහ ලෝක අවබෝධය, කිර්තිය සහ සාමය ඉදිරියට ගෙන යාමේ මෙහෙවර සඳහා සැමවිටම උත්සාහ කරයි. මෙම මෙහෙයුමේදී රොටරැක්ට් විසින් ගෝලීය පරිමාණයෙන් වැඩි සංස්කෘතික අවබෝධයක් සහ දැනුවත් කිරීමක් තුළින් “ලෝක සාමය” ඉස්මතු කර තිබේ. මෙහිදී අපගේ සෙසු රොටරැක්ට් සමාජයන් මෙම අංශය වැඩිදියුණු කිරීම සඳහා ඉතා සාර්ථක වූ ප්‍රයත්නයන් දරා ඇත. 31 වන රොටරැක්ට් දිස්ත්‍රික් සමුළුවේදී “වඩාත්ම බලපෑම් සහිත ජාත්‍යන්තර සේවා මුලපිරීම” යන කාණ්ඩය යටතේ ඇගයීමට ලක්වූ රොටරැක්ට් සමාජයන් විසින් සිදු කරන ලද කැපී පෙනෙන මුලපිරීම් තුනක් පිළිබඳ කෙටි සාරාංශයන් මෙහිදී ගෙන හැර දැක්වේ.
வணிகம், தொழில்முறை மற்றும் சமூகத் தலைவர்களின் கூட்டுறவு மூலம், ரோட்டராக்ட் எப்போதும் பிறருக்கு சேவையாற்றுதல், ஒருமைப்பாட்டை ஊக்குவித்தல் மற்றும் உலகப் புரிதல், நல்லெண்ணம் மற்றும் சமாதானம் ஆகியவற்றை முன்னேற்றுவதற்கான பணியை முன்னெடுத்துச் செல்கிறது.உலகளாவிய அளவில் கலாச்சார புரிதல் மற்றும் விழிப்புணர்விலிருந்து வெளிப்படுத்தப்படும் உலக சமாதானத்தினை இந்த பகுதியானது எடுத்தியம்புகிறது. இத் துறையின் முன்னேற்றத்திற்கு எம் நட்பு கழகங்கள் சிலவும் எம்முடன் இணைந்து கொண்டன.31 வது ரோட்டராக்ட் மாவட்ட மாநாட்டின் போது “சிறந்த தாக்கத்தினை ஏற்படுத்தும் சர்வதேச சேவை முயற்சி” என்ற பிரிவில் கௌரவிக்கப்பட்ட இரண்டு திட்டங்களின் சுருக்கமான கண்ணோட்டம் இங்கே
Gold – Battle with Pandemic (RAC Alumni of University of Moratuwa)
“Battle with Pandemic” is a project series aimed at highlighting the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, seeking remedies, and tracking it with the international community. The project was divided into three sub-projects. Those projects were created to cater to many genres of the common problem at hand, Covid-19, and they carefully followed a timeframe to achieve their goals. “Diary in a Pandemic”, “A Year with a Pandemic”, and “To2gether” were the three subprojects.
The International Service avenue of Rotaract Club of Alumni of University of Moratuwa proudly delivered “Diary in a Pandemic” in collaboration with other international Rotaract clubs such as Rotaract Club of Manipal International University in Malaysia, Rotaract Club of Kelowna in Canada, Rotaract Club of Battambang Youth in Cambodia, Rotaract Club of Kathmandu in Nepal, Rotaractors of Oakland Community Rotaract in the USA and Rotaract Club of Lima in Peru as the first sub-project of “Battle with Pandemic”. The project’s goal was to provide insight into the various techniques used by different countries to combat COVID – 19. These findings could aid countries in reshaping their survival strategies in the face of the pandemic. To begin, the University of Moratuwa Rotaract Club sent invites to other Rotaract Clubs, along with project specifics, to collaborate with them in creating a video documentary that captures the impact of COVID-19 on their lives and, most importantly, their survival experiences. Following that, on September 17th, 2020, they released the first video in the series, which included Malaysia’s pandemic narrative. The final film focused on Sri Lankans’ efforts to combat the global pandemic.
‘A year with a Pandemic,’ the second sub-project of ‘Battle with Pandemic,’ is an effort to promote awareness among communities about the experiences of nations around the world during a year with a pandemic on May 23, 2021, at 8.15 pm (+5.30 UTC). The progress of the pandemic, What were the loopholes and downfalls in the mitigation process? , The impacts on the country and awareness and advice from participant’s expertise were all discussed topics during this valuable knowledge sharing session on the pandemic experience of nations around the world over the past year, which was held via the Zoom platform.
‘TO2gether,’ Rotaract Alumni Mora’s International Service avenue, proudly delivered the project in collaboration with the Rotaract Club of Kathmandu, Nepal, as the third sub-project of the ‘Battle with Pandemic,’ an effort to raise funds through an online platform with the goal of purchasing oxygen concentrators for Nepal. It was successfully finished due to a generous contribution of an oxygen concentrator to aid those in Nepal who are suffering from the pandemic.
Click here to find out more about this award winning initiative.
Gold – The Thriving Nile (Rotaract Club of Wattala)
To achieve the goal of equal education for all, the Rotaract Club of Wattala, in collaboration with Rotaract Club Ejecutivo de Aguascalientes of RID 4110 (Mexico) and the Interact club of St. Bridget’s Convent of RID 3220, recently launched ‘The Thriving Nile,’ a virtual classroom tutor session for children of Nile Local Experience in Uganda, in an attempt to improve the education of children in Uganda, despite the challenges faced.
According to UNESCO research, the Saharan-sub area of Africa, which includes Uganda, has the greatest rates of education exclusion, with nearly one-fifth of the population, including children and youth, out of school due to factors such as poverty and a shortage of tutors.
Members of the Wattala Rotaract Club, Ejecutivo de Aguascalientes Rotaract Club, and St. Bridget’s Convent Interact Club joined hands in assisting Nile Local Experience by hosting virtual educative sessions to tutor subjects such as English, Mathematics, Science, and Music via zoom and WhatsApp, despite many challenges such as access to proper devices and internet. The project is still going strong and will hopefully continue for many more years.
Click here to find out more about this award winning initiative.
Bronze – RALITHI (Rotaract club of Faculty of Science, University of Colombo)
Project “RALITHI” is an initiative of the International Services avenue, Rotaract Club of the Faculty of Science, University of Colombo, to donate a collection of children’s storybooks (for ages 6- 11 years) to deserving communities around the world, written and illustrated by Rotaractors and infused with an essence of our beautiful Sri Lankan culture. After weeks of hard effort by an exceptionally talented and passion-driven team of Rotaractors, a total of six books were written and drawn with the element of creativity springing from within the club. The 06 books were themed as, Grandma’s recipe for life, Life: By the Sea, By Hand, Little Bindu’s brilliance, Melody of ‘Aurudu’, Mom’s best menu revealed and Say “Ayubowan” to Taprobana!.
With the continuous support of the International Youth Alliance for Peace (IYAP) of Sri Lanka, it was agreed to deliver 25 copies of each book to three deserving and different communities, totaling 150 books. The communities consisted of Street children, children from low-income families, orphans, refugees, migrants, and stateless children.
Click here to find out more about this award winning initiative.
This category of awards is a revelation for all other clubs since it broadens the area of services and understanding by partnering outside the local boundaries while gaining a better understanding of other cultures and ethnicities. Congratulations to the clubs for completing such huge projects aimed at improving international understanding.
Thank you to all fellow clubs and fellow Rotaractors for providing us with the details. Stay tuned for the eighth article of this novel series.
Written and Compiled by:
