“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”
Working together is one of the main objectives of the Rotary family. Accordingly, Rotaract clubs have collaborated with Interact clubs with commitment in order to bring out impressive projects with sustainable benefits. Here, we have a brief description of such amazing three initiatives which were awarded under the Most Outstanding Initiative with an Interact Club category at the 31st Rotaract District Assembly.
“අපට තනිව කල හැක්කේ කුඩා පරිමාණ දෙයකි නමුත් අපි එකට එකතු වුවහොත් මහා පරිමාණ දෙයක් කල හැකිය.”
රොටරි පවුලේ තවත් එක් අරමුණක් වනාහි එකමුතුව වැඩ කිරීමයි. එමනිසා සමාජයට ආකර්ෂණීය වූත් ස්ථිරසාර වූත් ව්යාපෘති දායාද කිරීමේ අරමුණ පෙරදැරිකරගෙන ඒ සඳහා දායක වීමට රොටරැක්ට් සමාජ සහ ඉන්ටරැක්ට් සමාජ වල එකමුතු විය. එසේ 31 වන රොටරැක්ට් දිස්ත්රික් සමුළුවේදී අන්තර් සමාජ කාණ්ඩයක් සමග එක්ව සිදුකල විශිෂ්ටතම මුලපිරීම යටතේ ඇගයීමට ලක්වූ අද්විතීය ව්යාපෘති පහත පරිදි වේ.
“தனியாக நம்மால் மிகக் குறைந்த அளவே செய்ய முடியும். ஒன்றாகச் சேர்ந்து நாம்மால் அதிகளவு செய்ய முடியும்.”
இணைந்து பணியாற்றுவது என்பது ரோட்டராக்ட் குடும்பத்தின் மிக முக்கிய நோக்கங்களில் ஒன்றாகும். அதனடிப்படையில், ரோட்டராக்ட் கழகங்கள் நிலையான நன்மைகளுடன், ஈர்க்கக்கூடிய திட்டங்களை வெளிக்கொண்டுவருவதற்காக அர்ப்பணிப்புடன், இண்டராக்ட் கழகங்களுடன் இணைகின்றன. 31வது ரோட்டராக்ட் மாவட்ட பேரவையில் இன்டராக்ட் கழகத்துடனான மிகச் சிறந்த முயற்சியின் கீழ் வழங்கப்பட்ட அத்தகைய சிறந்த மூன்று முயற்சிகள் பற்றிய சுருக்கமான விளக்கத்தை இங்கே தருகிறோம்.
Gold – Suwa Negumen Diwi Neguma (RAC Excellence & Interact club of Kingswood College Kandy)
This project was implemented by the Rotaract Club of Excellence and Interact club of Kingswood College Kandy. Narampanawa hospital which is close to Kandy, was developed through the project ‘Suwa Negumen Diwi Neguma’. Indeed, this project is advantageous because nearly 5,000 people are residing in that village and there is no other hospital within 20km.
The absence of a proper fence resulted in the theft of patients’ belongings and medical equipment and the water filters, plants, wastebaskets, and other things which are outside the hospital building were damaged by wild animals. Therefore, a fence of 100ft width and 6ft height was built in order to safeguard the hospital from external threats.
As another part of the project, a concrete area of 800 square feet along with roofing was put up. One of the reasons behind this initiative is, this area gets flooded during rainy days and it becomes difficult to walk on the slippery and muddy ground. Another important reason is the insufficient space to accommodate patients during the COVID-19 pandemic situation because they were asked to maintain social distance. This increased the hospital’s capacity by 100%. Overall, the project was successful and has created long-lasting benefits.
Click here to find out more about this award winning initiative
Silver – Youth & Integrity
The project Youth and Integrity was an initiative organized by the Rotary Club of Colombo North together with the Rotaract Clubs of Colombo North, Singer Sri Lanka, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, and Imperial College. The event was held virtually on 24th April 2021 Via Zoom, Facebook, and Youtube, and Ms. Vanushi Walters, the first Sri Lankan born Parliamentarian to be inducted to the New Zealand Parliament, was invited as the guest speaker for the day to address the Sri Lankan youth on “Youth and Integrity”.
The session was started off with the welcome speech delivered by the president of the Rotary Club of Colombo North Rtn Lucien Pereira, and he highlighted that the topic was highly appropriate in the context of the country’s current and past few years. Ms. Manushi Walters elaborated her journey from childhood to human rights commissioner to an independent lawyer to Parliamentarian. Further, she explained Integrity, ethics, and human rights challenges that the world has seen, such as immigration, in-housing, unemployment, etc. The entire session indeed provided a valuable learning experience for its participants, covering a wide range of topics in total.
This outstanding initiative secured the Silver award under the category of most outstanding initiative with an interact club.
Bronze – ECOTOPIA (Rotaract club of Kurunegala)
ECOTOPIA was a signature project initiated by the Rotaract club of Kurunegala to create a litter-free surrounding by cleaning up the railway lines between the Kurunegala and Muttetugala Railway Stations. Starting from a smaller unit of society can lead to a significant impact in advance, so the project was executed to build a better Kurunegala with the joint efforts of 6 Interact clubs of the Kurunegala Zone. The Rotaractors and the Interactors were mingled randomly into teams, and a scavenger hunt was held on the way of cleaning to boost their energy and create new bonds between Rotaractors and Interactors while improving personal and professional skills such as cooperation, leadership qualities, team skills, etc.
Further, the project successfully cleaned nearly 10 km of railway lines on either side of the Kurunegala Railway Station. Moreover, the organizing club was able to enhance the relationships with the government institutions and the Rotaract Movement throughout this project. This project created pleasant surroundings in the railway station while creating awareness of maintaining clean surroundings.
Thank you to all fellow clubs and fellow Rotaractors for providing us with the details. Stay tuned for the fourteenth article of this novel series.
