“Creativity thrives on a consistent diet of challenges and opportunities, which are often one and the same.”
-Lee Clow
Rotaract plays a major role in encouraging members to think creatively and to expose themselves to new challenges which the community faces at present. Drawing up a community assessment always help the clubs to identify the needs and the concerns of the community which then leads to the development of fresh project ideas. A well-carried leadership, bravery and an enthusiastic team is required to turn those creative and new ideas into phenomenal initiatives. The 30th Rotaract District Assembly didn’t fail to reward these new ideas and encourage others to follow their footsteps to change the world to a better place. We are delighted to present you the projects which was chosen as “Best emerging projects of the year” at the assembly.
වර්තමානයේ මතුවී ඇති නව අභියෝගයන්ට මුහුණ දීමට ප්රජාව සූදානම් කිරීම සහ නිර්මාණාත්මකව සිතීමට සාමාජිකයින් දිරිමත් කිරීමෙහිලා රොටරැක්ට් විශාල කාර්යභාරයක් ඉටු කරයි. ප්රජා තක්සේරුවන් කිරීම, සැමවිටම සමාජයේ අවශ්යතා සහ උත්සුකයන් හඳුනා ගැනීමට රොටරැක්ට් සමාජයන් වලට උපකාරී වී ඇති අතර එය නැවුම් ව්යාපෘති අදහස් වර්ධනය වීමටද මග පාදයි. එම නිර්මාණාත්මක හා නව අදහස් සුවිශේෂී මූලාරම්භයන් බවට පත් කිරීම සඳහා මනා නායකත්වයක්, ධෛර්යයක් සහ උද්යෝගිමත් කණ්ඩායමක් අවශ්ය වේ. මෙම නව අදහස්වලට ත්යාග පිළිගැන්වීමට සහ ලෝකය වඩා විශිෂ්ඨ ස්ථානයකට ගමන් කරවීම සඳහා ඔවුන්ගේ අඩිපාරේ ගමන් කිරීමට අන් අයව දිරිමත් කිරීමට 30 වන රොටරැක්ට් දිස්ත්රික් එක්රැස්වීමේදී කටයුතු සිදු කෙරිණි. අප ඉතා සතුටින් මෙලෙස ගෙන හැර දක්වන්නේ සමුලුවේදී ඇගයීමට ලක්වූ “වසරේ හොඳම නැගී එන ව්යාපෘති” ලෙස තෝරාගත් එම ව්යාපෘති පිළිබඳවයි.
உறுப்பினர்களை ஆக்கப்பூர்வமாக சிந்திக்க ஊக்குவிப்பதிலும், சமூகம் எதிர்கொள்ளும் புதிய சவால்களை எதிர்கொள்ள வைப்பதிலும் ரோட்டரக்ட் முக்கிய பங்கு வகிக்கிறது. ஒரு சமூக மதிப்பீட்டை வரைவது எப்போதும் கழகங்களுக்கு சமூகத்தின் தேவைகளையும்,கவலைகளையும் அடையாளம் காட்ட உதவுகிறது, இது புதிய திட்ட யோசனைகளின் வளர்ச்சிக்கு வழிவகுக்கிறது. அந்த ஆக்கபூர்வமான மற்றும் புதிய யோசனைகளை தனித்துவமான முன்முயற்சிகளாக மாற்றுவதற்கு நன்கு முன்னெடுக்கப்பட்ட தலைமை, துணிச்சல் மற்றும் உற்சாகமான குழு அவசியம்.30 வது ரோட்டரக்ட் மாவட்ட சட்டசபை இந்த புதிய யோசனைகளுக்கு வெகுமதி அளிக்க தவறவில்லை, மேலும் உலகத்தை ஒரு சிறந்த இடமாக மாற்ற மற்றவர்களை அவர்களின் சுவடுகளை பின்பற்ற ஊக்குவித்தது. சட்டசபையில் “ஆண்டின் சிறந்த வளர்ந்து வரும் திட்டங்களாக” தேர்ந்தெடுக்கப்பட்ட திட்டங்களை உங்களுக்கு வழங்குவதில் நாங்கள் மகிழ்ச்சியடைகிறோம்.
Gold – Sneha (RAC Achievers Lanka Business School)
Project Sneha is an educational project implemented by the Rotaract Club of Achievers Lanka Business School in October 2019 with the objective of educating unprivileged students in slums. The initiative was an idea of Mr. Ravi, a much-loved fixer at Achievers Lanka Business School who explained the necessity and brought up to the clubs’ consideration.
Targeting the children of the slum areas around Kirulapona, Koombi Kale Project Sneha carried out two days per week with a team of four members headed down to slums to enlighten the future of these students.
The youngsters of Sneha also known as ‘Rangers’ organized exhilarating and thriving group activities to children in slums to enhance their skills such as leadership, communication and to improve their mental well-being. The programme was organized by pastor and included activities such as singing, dancing, camping where the talents of these youngsters were showcased through a concert.
This project is indeed one of the most honourable initiatives which won another Gold Award under the category of “Education”. Read about it on; https://bit.ly/3gd2OX8
More information can be found on the Official Blog of RAC Achievers:
http://rotaractachievers.org/blog/
Silver – Selalihini – let them Fly (RAC Centennial United)
Rotaract Club of Centennial United initiated this two year strategic community service project, “Selalihini- Let Them Fly” in order to ameliorate the living standards of a very challenged community residing in Bloemendhal, by offering them wings through education, youth and women empowerment as well as health and sanitation.
The project was commenced focusing on education in the area as ‘An investment in knowledge would pay the best interest on the society as a whole.’ The only government school, Agamathi Vidyalaya was chosen to be served with the aim of creating a promising learning environment within the school in an attempt to increase the level of daily attendance rate and reduce the school dropout rate. With the support of Bloemendhal Police Station, RAC Centennial United had provided the required essential amenities by means of infrastructure renovation, education and grooming programs, leadership programs and Spoken English programs for a complete educational process.
As there is a high number of substance abusers within the community, this remarkable project also intends to facilitate mentoring programs and drug rehabilitation sessions to troubled youth in collaboration with the area Police Station. Further, focusing on the unemployment of women in the locale, the project expects to conduct Women Development programs endowing education on self-employment opportunities and financial management. Last but not least, this marvelous project has particular emphasis on improving health and sanitation via medical clinics and sanitary guidelines for a safe environment in the community.
The project “Selalihini – Let them fly” was also awarded with a Gold Award under the category of ‘Education’. Read about it on; https://bit.ly/3gd2OX8
To know about RAC Centennial United, you can follow them on:
https://www.facebook.com/CentennialUnited
Bronze –
Dog walk and Carnival (RAC Colombo Central)
The Rotaract Club of Colombo Central pioneered the first ever communal Dog walk and Carnival in Sri Lanka, at the Stanley Jansz ground in Colombo on the 20th of October 2019. The project was aimed at highlighting the importance of animal rights and the protection of animals against harassment with the cooperative efforts of the club members and the dog lovers who participated in the event with their pet dogs and rescue dogs were partnered up with those who did not have an accompanying dog of their own.
The event consisted of two segments. Firstly, the Dog Walk to raise awareness on the theme of driving change towards the outdated legislation, Cruelty to Animals Act No.22 of 1955 of Sri Lanka which has not been updated for over 60 years. A petition was signed by the participants, along with the paw prints of the dogs to indicate their participation and support towards amendment of the laws. Secondly, the Dog Carnival which comprised of fun filled interactive sessions for the canines and their owners such as a dog show, fun games, competitions, a free health camp for dogs, dog wash and grooming and dog adoption.
More information can be found on the Blog of RACCC;
https://bit.ly/3qx554g
Sight Entrée (RAC Hatton Kotagala)
Rotaract Clubs of Hatton – Kotagala, Jaffna Midtown and Nuwara Eliya carried out ‘Sight Entrée’ in 2019, to bring light to the visually impaired children at the Iniya Vazhu Illam. This charitable organization was found by Mr. Christopher Masilamani in 1997 and is currently giving home to nearly 21 visually impaired children. The Clubs identified the need of machines, papers and other resources for the institute in order to facilitate a better education for the children at the institute. Hence, the Clubs got together and donated Rs. 763,000 worth of resources including 525 Braille papers, 5 Braille machines and 5 Dictaphones. Sight Entree was able to bring hope to those children by enabling them to reach for something brighter and bolder.
To know about RAC Hatton Kotagala, you can follow them on; https://bit.ly/3mWMIU4
We like to take this platform as a chance to appreciate those problem-seeking minds and their thirst to change the world into a better place to live, We also hope that the other fellow clubs will also bring some new proposals to light in the future. And as we always say, it’s beyond competing for awards. This category of awards too is yet another driving force for clubs to Strive as One!
And that ladies and gentlemen brings us to the end of the ‘Honoured & Sealed’ for the year 2020. Throughout this series, we’ve enlightened you on 52 eminent projects, that were awarded under 15 categories at the 30th Rotaract District Assembly. While we congratulate the clubs and the amazing individuals behind these projects, we would also like to thank our fellow clubs and fellow Rotaractors for providing us with the details and supporting us throughout.
Our heartfelt thank you also goes out to everyone who followed this novel series. Do stay tuned for the ‘season 2’ of the ‘Honoured & Sealed’ in the next Rotary International year as well!
Written & Compiled By:
The Blog Team 2020/21
