Monthly Roundup – October

Here’s a look at how the month of October was for our club!

A little gift from us! 😀

Club Orientation  
The orientation program for the first year students of our faculty was held on the 24th of October with the participation of more than 50 freshers who were eager to join our club. During the orientation, they were given the opportunity to get an understanding of what Rotaract is and to get a taste of the fun and friendship that Rotaract will bring into their lives.


The highlight of the day was the ice breaker game “Rahas Kochciya”, organized by our Presidents of the month Rtr. Dishan Leo, Rtr. Isuri Alahakoon and Rtr. Malith Nirmal Mendiz, which created a friendly, but fierce competition among the members and allowed the first years and other club members to interact with each other.          

The winners of the ice breaker challenge

Blind Walk
This is a project that holds a special place in all our hearts. Organized as a part of the international celebrations for the “World Sight Day”, we participated in the “Colombo Blind Walk”, the Sri Lankan leg of the World Blind Walk, initiated and coordinated by Project Vision, Bangalore, India on the 13th of October 2016. 

Rotary Club of Colombo Mid Town, Rotaract Club of Achievers Lanka Business School, Rotaract Club of Australian College of Business and Technology, Rotaract Club of Colombo Midtown and our very own club partnered together to organize this project with the noble objective of raising awareness of the issues faced by the visually impaired and encouraging eye donation as a means of sharing the gift of vision.


At the end of the Blind Walk, the participants joined together to create a beautiful human mosaic at the University grounds, symbolizing that together we can create awareness and together we can create a difference in the society. Subsequently, an entertainment segment took place where a combination of Sinhala, English, Tamil and Hindi songs were performed by the participants of ‘Friends in Action’ and individuals of the Sri Lanka Foundation for the Visually Handicapped. Read more. 

I to Eye Phase 1 
Phase 1 of our Community Service project “I to Eye” took place on the 13th October, at the University of Colombo Grounds during the Colombo Blind Walk 2016. I to Eye is a project undertaken by our club, focusing on the promotion of eye donation, facilitating the blind and encouraging the early diagnosis of preventable and curable eye disorders. 


With the help of Sri Lanka Eye Donation Society, the necessary documentation for pledging eyes were made available to all Rotaractors, Rotarians and the general public during the event and we are very glad to announce that the event was a success, as we were able to get over 90 eye pledges signed by the end of the event. 

The ‘I to Eye’ stall at the Colombo Blind Walk

One Youth One Nation Peace Campaign-IYAP
One Youth One Nation Peace Campaign was a professional development workshop organized by our club in partnership with the International Youth Alliance for Peace (IYAP), on the 10th of October 2016 under the theme “One Youth One Nation”. The main objective of this project was to create awareness among the undergraduates of the University of Colombo, Faculty of Management and Finance, on the importance of peace, the relationship between the youth and peace and how the youth can contribute to building peace among the community.  


The workshop was conducted by highly skilled and experienced facilitators, Miss. Naushalya Rajapaksha, one of the Official Youth Delegates of Sri Lanka to the 70th General Assembly and Mr. Ramzi Deen, the Outgoing National Director of Sri Lanka Unites. 


Throughout the workshop, the participants were able to gather invaluable knowledge on leadership and team building principles and how to apply them in a personally significant manner. At the same time, the participants were given the opportunity to exchange their personal discoveries during the workshop, enabling them to develop team spirit, openness to change, and the desire to find opportunities for improvement.


A special acknowledgment must be given to Rtr. Haresh Wijayanayaka and Rtr. Amaya Karunaratne for organizing a such a valuable workshop.

Diwali Festival
Midtown Rotary family, including our club got together to organize a Diwali Festival as a part of the Rotaract Diwali Celebrations. This was held at the Vishnu kovil, Dehiwala on Diwali, 29th October from 11.00 pm onwards, with the objective of fostering peace among different communities.


During the festival, all the participants were enlightened on the story behind Diwali celebrations and how and why people celebrate this festival by our Immediate Past District Rotaract Representative Rtr. PP Sathiyeandra Tharmakulerajasingham. He also gave all participants a tour of the kovil, explaining the stories behind the statues of their God Vishnu and his avatars. 

At the end of this beautiful event, a donation was made to the kovil in the form of dry rations which included rice, dhal, coconuts and other essentials to provide cooked meals for the devotees who visit the kovil every Sunday.

The statue of God Vishnu and his avatars at the Vishnu Kovil, Dehiwala

Thudugala Ella Cleanup
The Thudugala ella cleanup, the first phase of our signature green life project “Green Dream”, took place on the 28th of October under the leadership of the project chairpersons Rtr. Charith Kumarasinghe and Rtr. Chamini Abeysekara.


Situated in a breath-taking location, Thudugala Ella natural stream pool is loved by many foreigners and locals, thus securing a place in the list of the most popular waterfalls in Sri Lanka, as per the National Council. But sadly, the surrounding area of the Thudugala Ella is continuously littered by the tourists, which prompted our club to initiate this project.  In addition to cleaning the surrounding area, we installed notices to build awareness and encourage visitors to keep the area clean. This wonderful project marked its end with an exciting fellowship session.

King Spin 
“King Spin”, the largest bowling tournament of the year, was held on the 29th of October from 2.00 pm onwards at Excel World, Colombo. This finance project was able to give an incredible bowling experience to all the participants and made the day a fun filled memory in their minds.  


The competition took place in two categories; Rotary Family category and Public category. Even though the competition was fierce, the participants were able to relish the event to its fullest while enjoying the refreshments, DJ music, photo booth and much more.     


A special thank you must be extended to our project chairs Rtr. Udanee Silva and Rtr. Janith Sachintha, for working their hardest to make this a success amidst many obstacles.

October was indeed a very exciting month, filled with many milestones for our blog. During the month, not only were we able to surpass the 26000 view count, we were also able to publish our 150th blog post! In addition to that, we relaunched our famous blog column “Journey Through Rotaract”, featuring an interview from our very own Immediate Past President Rtr. Praveen Fernando, making it even more special. 

Taking this as an opportunity, we would like to extend our appreciation to all our club members and to all our blog readers for their remarkable support and enthusiasm towards making our Blog the best there is in the entire Rotaract District 3220. We promise to make it even more interesting and exciting to all our Blog readers in the future. So, stay tuned and look forward to it!

October was an exciting month not only for our club, but for other clubs as well. RCUOCFMFers took pleasure in attending many outstanding events organized during the month, including all the installation ceremonies.


Here are some of the projects we attended during the month;


Spectrum – Counterbalance
Spectrum – Counterbalance, was a professional development project jointly organized by the Rotaract Club of Colombo Institute of Research & Psychology, Rotaract Club of Imperial Institute of Higher Education, and Rotaract Club of Wellawatte.


As the first phase of a three-phase project, where knowledge on three noteworthy areas; Panel Discussion, Sustainable Project Management and Project Proposal Writing were shared by a panel of well experienced and matured Rotaractors and Rotarians, this project was able to educate the attendees on how to balance work and other commitments with Rotaract work, which will be very helpful not only for the newly joined Rotaractors, but for the experienced Rotaractors as well. Read more.


Odyssey
Odyssey was a seminar organized by the Rotaract Clubs of Wattala and ACBT, that holds great value for anyone who is interested in identifying the right career path or advancing their career regardless of whether they are students, undergraduates or postgraduates. It was held on the 8th of October at the Australian College of Business and Technology, Colombo and was undoubtedly a successful project as at the end of the event participants were enriched with the knowledge about their skills and how to approach a major that would be beneficial for the future and also on how to select a career for a brighter and successful future. 


Co-Exist Phase 3
3rd Phase of the Community Service project, Co- Exist which was jointly organized by the Rotaract Clubs of Faculty of Arts, University of Colombo and Faculty of Science, University of Colombo, was held on the 20th of October at the Sri Murugan Kovil, Colombo 2. Under this phase, the participants were given the unique opportunity to explore and be familiar with the Hindu religious activities and appreciate the Hindu culture. 


The West Skate Day 2
The 2nd day of the fun filled project organized by the Rotaract Club of Colombo West, “The West Skate Day” happened on the 21st of October, at the Football House, Colombo. This unique project organized in partnership with the Sri Lanka Rollerblading Club, not only gave the participants the opportunity to learn roller skating, but also created an unforgettable and wonderful experience for them.  

FMFers at the West Skate Day 2

Sathkara Phase 2
Sathkara phase 2, organized by the Rotaract Club of University of Peradeniya was held on the 1st of October, with the presence of the children of Evelyn Children’s Home in Kandy. Filled with an interactive session of origami, a discussion on dental health, donation of stationery items and much more, the project was able to win the hearts of all the children and participants.