Covid 19 was a global pandemic that affected many countries around the world. Not only did it take away many valuable lives but also affected people’s day-to-day lifestyles in an adverse way. In a time period when the entire country was struggling, Rotaractors took a step forward to help people in need. The following are such projects conducted by our fellow Rotaract clubs in order to help people during this pandemic era. These projects were awarded and appreciated in the 32nd Rotaract District Training Assembly under the category ‘The Most Outstanding Initiative Focused on Stop the Spread’.
Covid 19 යනු ලොව පුරා බොහෝ රටවලට බලපෑ ගෝලීය වසංගතයකි. එය වටිනා ජීවිත රැසක් උදුරා ගැනීමට සමත් වූවා පමණක් නොව මිනිසුන්ගේ ජීවන රටාවට ද අහිතකර ලෙස බලපෑවේය. මුළු රටම අරගල කරමින් සිටි කාලයක, අවශ්යතා ඇති මිනිසුන්ට උපකාර කිරීමට Rotaract පියවරක් ඉදිරියට තැබීය. මෙම වසංගත යුගයේ මිනිසුන්ට උපකාර කිරීම සඳහා රට පුරා රොටරැක්ට් සමාජ විසින් පවත්වනු ලැබූ එවැනි ව්යාපෘති කිහිපයක් පහත දැක්වේ. මෙම ව්යාපෘති 32 වන Rotaract දිස්ත්රික් පුහුණු සැසියේදී “Covid 19 ව්යාප්තිය නැවැත්වීම කෙරෙහි අවධානය යොමු කළ විශිෂ්ටතම මුලපිරීම” යන කාණ්ඩය යටතේ ඇගයීමට ලක් විය.
கோவிட் 19 ஒரு உலகளாவிய தொற்றுநோயாகும், இது உலகெங்கிலும் உள்ள பல நாடுகளை பாதித்தது. பல மதிப்புமிக்க உயிர்களைப் பறிக்க முடிந்தது மட்டுமல்லாமல், மக்களின் இன்றைய வாழ்க்கை முறையையும் பாதகமான முறையில் பாதித்தது. முழு நாடும் போராடிக்கொண்டிருந்த காலகட்டத்தில், ரோட்டராக்டர்கள் தங்கள் தேவையில் உள்ள மக்களுக்கு உதவ ஒரு படி முன்னேறினர். இந்த தொற்றுநோய் காலத்தில் மக்களுக்கு உதவுவதற்காக நாடு முழுவதும் உள்ள ரோட்ராக்ட் கிளப்களால் நடத்தப்பட்ட இதுபோன்ற சில திட்டங்கள் பின்வருமாறு. இந்த திட்டங்கள் 32 வது ரோட்ராக்ட் மாவட்ட சட்டமன்றத்தில் ‘பரவலை நிறுத்துவதில் கவனம் செலுத்திய மிகச் சிறந்த முயற்சி’ என்ற பிரிவின் கீழ் விருது மற்றும் பாராட்டு பெற்றன.
Gold – Rotaract club of Informatics Institute of Technology – Epitome of Covid 19
Covid 19 pandemic was a major issue that affected many day-to-today activities, as well as many impactful Rotaract projects and initiatives as well. Despite all those difficulties, “Epitome of Covid 19” was a great initiative that was taken by the Rotaract club of IIT with the intention of stopping the spread of Covid-19. The project included different stages such as project safe school, vaccination programs, and food drives.
Project safe school was initiated to make the schools safe again in order for students to come and learn physically at their schools. The project was a huge success where 4 schools were aided in this way. Another great deed done by RAC IIT was the vaccination programs that were conducted for the elderly and disabled community. Dry rations were also distributed among the local community to aid them. Donations were accepted from the members of the Rotaract club of IIT and with the help of sponsors as well. They were distributed around rural areas for the people who were facing difficulties due to not being able to do their daily jobs with the pandemic situation in the country. This project was a huge success as it was focused on the timeliest issue that the public was facing at that time.
Silver – Rotaract Club of University of Colombo, Faculty of Medicine – Lend a Breath
The first phase of the project “Lend a Breath” was called ‘Husmata pana dena’ where a tribute song dedicated to the health care workers was created. The lyrics of the song was done by fellow Rotaractors of the club while it was sung by Pawan De Silva, Falan Andrea, Sandeep Jayalath and Madhuvy Vaithiyalingam.
The second phase of the project was called ‘Save a life’ which was done at a time where covid 19 was rising in Srilanka and the capacities of hospitals were reaching their limits, where the doctors had to advise home medication for most patients. This was becoming a challenge to most households as they were not able to afford the required medical equipment. One of the main pieces of equipment needed for home-based care was the pulse oximeter which monitors blood oxygen saturation levels. Under the project Lend a breath, they managed to donate 350+ oximeters to the health system through public funding of over Rs 1000,000.
Phase 3 of the project was called ‘Never alone. In a time when the pandemic resulted in the deaths of friends and family, emotional and spiritual guidance was a need of the hour. During this phase, they conducted an inter-faith event of remembrance with the involvement of the Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, and Catholic Societies of the Medical Faculties of the University of Colombo and Sabaragamuwa. The event was hybrid with the clergy being present on-site and over 200 participants joining the event online via Zoom. The phase was completed with the launch of an online support group system which was featured on the official website of the club and enabled those affected to seek help anonymously if they so desired.
Bronze – Rotaract Club of Alumni of University of Moratuwa and Rotaract club of Hatton Kotagala – Halt of Covid
The project Halt of Covid was done by the Rotaract club of Alumni of University of Moratuwa in collaboration with the Rotaract club of Hatton Kotagala. Due to the sudden rise of Covid 19 patients, the main city of Hatton was isolated and the only hospital treating for covid 19 patients was the Divisional Hospital in Maskeliya. The hospital was overcrowded with patients and one of the main reasons for the spread of the virus near the hospital was the absence of an ETU for covid 19 patients.
The 1st phase of the project was done by establishing an emergency treatment unit for the Covid patients of the Divisional hospital in Maskeliya, while the second phase was done focusing on the country’s medical equipment shortfall where donations had been made to areas which were in need of medical equipment.
Thank you to all fellow clubs and fellow Rotaractors for providing us with the details necessary for this article. Stay tuned for the twelfth article of this novel series.
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