Promoting the fellowship and collaborating with one another to serve the community beyond boundaries is a crucial objective of the Rotary family. With the mindset of always bearing the spirit of service in their hearts, Rotaractors strive for greater heights in order to create everlasting positivity within the community.
සීමාවෙන් ඔබ්බට ප්රජාවට සේවය කිරීම සඳහා සහෝදරත්වය ප්රවර්ධනය කිරීම සහ එකිනෙකා සමඟ සහයෝගයෙන් කටයුතු කිරීම rotary පවුලේ තීරණාත්මක අරමුණකි. සෑම විටම තම හදවත් තුළ සේවයේ ආත්මය දරා ගැනීමේ මානසිකත්වය ඇතිව, ප්රජාව තුළ සදාකාලික ධනාත්මක බවක් ඇති කිරීම සඳහා රොටරැක්ටර්ස් වඩාත්ම උත්සාහ කරයි.
சகவாழ்வை ஊக்குவிப்பதும், எல்லைகளுக்கு அப்பால் சமூகத்திற்கு சேவை செய்ய ஒருவருக்கொருவர் ஒத்துழைப்பதும் ரோட்டரி குடும்பத்தின் முக்கிய நோக்கமாகும். எப்போதும் தங்கள் இதயங்களில் சேவை உணர்வைத் தாங்கும் மனநிலையுடன், சமூகத்தில் நித்திய நேர்மறையை உருவாக்குவதற்காக ரோட்டராக்டர்கள் அயராது பாடுபடுகிறார்கள்.
“TogetherSL” represented the monumental effort, and the passion, the Rotaractors all around the country, put into the betterment of the society. This was a massive endeavor, carried out, jointly by all the Rotaract clubs in RI district 3220 to enhance the interconnectedness and to focus on development of commodities in rural areas of Sri Lanka. Here the main focus was to emphasize on the seven areas of focus of Rotary, while contributing to regional development by adding value to existing resources. The seven areas of focus were as follows.
– Peace and Conflict Resolution
– Disease, Prevention and Treatment
– Water and Sanitization
– Maternal Child Health
– Basic Education and Literacy
– Economic and Community Development
– Support the Environment
Elaborating on this, District Rotaract Representative for the RI Year 2021-22, Rtn. Rtr. PP Akhila Wijetunga stated that “TogetherSL” is not just a project that covers the Seven Areas of Focus of Rotary, it will create new prospects for people to live a fulfilling life. We work to make it happen. It will be a project that will make a positive difference in the community and the environment.
Under the “TogetherSL” initiative Project “Gurukulam” was initiated with regards to the focus area of “Basic Education and Literacy”. Rotaract clubs of Chulipuram, Chunnakam, Faculty of Engineering, University of Jaffna, Jaffna, Jaffna Midtown, Jaffna Peninsula, Kilinochchi Town, Manipay, Nallur, Nallur Heritage, and Uduvil under the TogetherSL initiative jointly carried out this project in order to improve the basic literacy and numerical understanding of the students in the selected area.
After thorough background checks and inspections in different areas of the country, the village called Thanavodai in Jaffna district was selected as the focus area to implement the project Gurukulam. During the inspection the Rotaractors identified a list of hardships the students in the area were facing such as,
– Absence of a public library/ social community center
– Community discrimination between families
– Dropouts and GCE O/L fail percentages being high
– Artificial power due to unplanned economic factors
In the endeavor of alleviating the above identified issues, the project team got together with the local government authorities, such as the Agricultural Department and Divisional Secretariat Office in order to collaborate in formulating plans.
Next stage was conducting project orientation and planning workshops with the participation of different club ambassadors, government officials, and parents of children. During this, a joint plan for project implementation was formulated, while the public awareness meetings were carried out simultaneously. The core value-added beneficiaries of the project were the children in this village. Here, a set of interactive sessions were carried out to engage the children in the process of education while providing the much-needed motivation for them to pursue their educational aspirations. To reinforce this sentiment, a common study area was built for these students.
At the end of the project, the students in the village were much more inclined towards educational activities than they were before with a clear vision in their minds while getting their hands on new facilities as well. The impact project Gurukulam created on the students in village Thanavodai made it deserving to win the title of Most Impactful “TogetherSL” Initiative at the 32nd Rotaract District Training Assembly.
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