Honoured & Sealed – Most Outstanding Community Service Initiatives – Peace and Conflict Resolution

Peace comes from being able to contribute the best that we have towards creating a world with tranquility and serenity while securing the required space for the ones around us. It is said that not one of us can rest, be happy, be at peace with ourselves until we end hatred and division. Nevertheless, it certainly is the responsibility of each and every one of us to raise a voice and stand against imprudent conflicts while working towards upholding peace and harmony that resonates love, fellowship and togetherness amongst communities. Three such Rotaract initiatives undertaken by our fellow clubs were given prominence at the 30th Rotaract District Assembly under the category of ‘Peace and Conflict resolution’.

සාමය රදා පවතිනුයේ ලෝකයේ සන්සුන්බව රැකගැනීමට අප වටා සිටින සියල්ලන්ටම අවකාශය නිර්මාණය කිරීමෙනි. වෛරය හා විෂමතාවය දුරුකරන තාක් අපට විවේකයෙන් හෝ සතුටින් සිටීමට ඉඩ ලැබෙන්නේ නැත. කෙසේ වුවද එකිනෙකා සමග සහයෝගයෙන් , ප්‍රේමයෙන් ජීවත් වීම සමගම නොසැලකිලිමත් ගැටුම්වලට එරෙහිව නැගී සිටීම අපගේ වගකීමයි. එවැනි වගකීම් සපුරාලීම වෙනුවෙන්  “සාමය හා ගැටුම් විසදීම” යන කාණ්ඩය යටතේ පැවැත්වු රොටරැක්ට්  ව්‍යාපෘති තුනකි මේ.

நம்மை சுற்றியுள்ளவர்களுகஂகு தேவையான இடத்தை பாதுகாக்கும் அதே வேளையில், அமைதியான உலகை உருவாக்குவதற்கு நம் பங்களிப்பை வழங்குவதன் ஊடாக அமைதியை பெற்றுக்கொள்ளலாம். வெறுப்பையும் பிளவையும் முடிவுக்கு கொண்டுவரும் வரை நம்மில் ஒருவரால் கூட ஓய்வெடுக்க முடியாது, மகிழ்ச்சியாக இருக்க முடியாது, சமாதானமாக இருக்க முடியாது என்பதுதான் உண்மை. சமூகங்களிடையே அமைதி மற்றும் நல்லிணக்கத்தை நிலைநிறுத்துவதில் பணியாற்றும் போது, குரல் எழுப்புவதும், விவேகமற்ற மோதல்களுக்கு எதிராக நிற்பதும் நம் ஒவ்வொருவரினதும் பொறுப்பாகும். சக கழகங்களால் மேற்கொள்ளப்பட்ட இதுபோன்ற மூன்று றோட்டறக்ட் முயற்சிகள் 30 வது மாவட்ட சட்டமன்றத்தில் “அமைதி மற்றும் மோதல் தீர்மானம்” என்ற பிரிவின் கீழ் முக்கியத்துவம் பெற்றன.

Gold – Connecting the Dots (RAC Moratuwa)

Project “Connecting the Dots” was one incredible initiative taken by the Rotaract Club of University of Moratuwa with the aim of promoting peace and harmony among different social and religious groups across the nation. The project was implemented through 3 sub-projects namely, “Wanakkam”, “As-salamu Alaykum” and “Merry Christmas” of which 2 of them focused on facilitating the education of students of certain regions through means of providing material donation and conducting seminars to enhance subject related knowledge.

“Wanakkam” was carried out under 2 stages, the first one being an interactive seminar on Mathematics and Information technology for the Ordinary Level students of Inuvil Hindu College, Jaffna, was conducted together with the Rotaract Club of Nallur Heritage. Further, The Rotary Club of Colombo West also had partnered up for the second stage which focused on donating over 1500 English workbooks to few underprivileged schools. Fun Fact : Caring is still cool. Try it out!

The subproject ‘As-salamu Alaykum” comprised of 2 phases as well. The first stage was implemented through conducting a series of  seminars on mathematics for the students of Orabi Basha School, Ampara. While in the second stage, packs of essential goods were donated to 21 families living in Irakkamam, Ampara. “Merry Christmas” was the final subproject of “Connecting the Dots”, and in this phase the members  of the club visited the CCC Cancer Transmit House, The Domain and the Dustch Hospital to celebrate the joy of Christmas by sharing love, laughter and prosperity. A Teeny Weeny thought : The true Spirit of Christmas is love. Only by sharing that love will we attain true happiness. Make this Christmas count!

The project emphasized the fact that, being compassionate towards one another despite their ethnicity would definitely enhance mutual trust and strengthen relationships among communities and different ethnic groups and ultimately reinforce peace and harmony within the nation.

More information can be found on;
https://blog.rotaractmora.org/

Silver – Uthuru Mithuru (RAC Uva Wellassa University Badulla)

Uthuru Mithuru is an eminent project initiated by the Rotaract Club of Badulla, set up to enhance the GCE Ordinary Level results of the students of North and Northeast areas whilst restoring peace and harmony among different ethnicities via cultural exchange. The project indeed set up a significant platform to regain the unity of the major ethnic groups after the disruption and polarization caused by terrorism.

As the initial task, a discussion was carried out with the members of the Tamil Students’ Association of the Uva Wellassa University. Through the meeting, seminar conducting centers were planned to initiate the project and much effort was put into the project prior to the implementation. The students of the University of Moratuwa, the Department of Education and our very one PDRR Rtr. PP Krishan Balaji had also been part of this exceptional project. Project “Uthuru Mithuru” played the role of a bridge of peace connecting two different provinces, cultures and ethnic groups whilst endowing education. 

To know about the Rotaract Club of Uva Wellassa University Badulla, you can follow them on;
https://bit.ly/3ey4lqf

Bronze – Talk for Peace (RAC Colombo East, RAC ACBT, RAC Pamunugama)

Rotaract Club of Colombo East in collaboration with the Rotaract Clubs of ACBT, Pamunugama and the Interact Clubs of Asoka Vidyalaya and Nalanda College initiated Talk for peace on the 18th of May 2020 under three main phases. The main aim of the project was to promote and advocate peace and harmony with the vision to recreate Sri Lanka to a nation which bases unity on mutual trust and respect whilst celebrating the cultural differences. ( ‘For our strength lies in differences, not in similarities.’)

Phase 01: Competition

The initial phase started with a contest, facilitating a platform for the youth to draw their interpretation and commentary on Peace and Reconciliation under the aesthetic genres including Poetry, Creative writing, Short stories, Art, Posters and Short stories covering the topics of Conflict Resolution, Religion and Peace, Unity through diversity etc.

Phase 02: Panel Discussion and Examination

In the second phase, two panel discussions were conducted, focusing on the key pillars of conflict resolution, reparation and lessons learned, non- violence, and reconciliation under the theme “Peace and Harmony”. The discussion was screened on social media and was aimed at uniting youth leaders who have displayed exceptional skills and activism in the field of minority rights, and reconciliation and the eminent personalities who have ultimately raised a voice on behalf of those not heard. Haneekah Rahil, Nabeela Iqbal, Danu Innasithamby, Randir Witharan, Sharan Velauthan were among the key speakers for the panel discussion.

Talk for peace was one notable project which lit a spark of humanity in the lives of over 7000 individuals around the world. Hats off to the team for a job very well done.

To know about these clubs, you can follow them on;

RAC Colombo East:
https://www.facebook.com/RotaractColomboEast/

RAC ACBT:
https://www.facebook.com/RotaractACBT/

RAC Pamunugama:
https://www.facebook.com/RACPamunugama/

Kudos to the Clubs for coming up with such incredible yet enthusiastic initiatives to address a very timely concern. The clubs and the exceptional individuals behind these projects are undeniably deserving of the unwavering efforts they’ve put in restoring peace within communities. 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!

Thankyou to all our fellow clubs and fellow Rotaractors for providing us with the details!

Written & Compiled By:

The Blog Team 2020/21