From the appointment of Rtr. Nadeeshani Karandana as the President of Rotaract Club of Colombo North for the year 2019/20, Rotaract Club of Colombo North has been a part of numerous projects which were focused on quality and the service which it could render to the communities around us. As we set our sail, we decided to land in projects where it built our stability within the movement as we wanted to do multiple joint projects to show the solidarity we express within our community and the member base. One of the highlighting projects of 1st quarter was the beach clean up which was carried out at Mattakkuliya along with 4 other Rotaract Clubs in the aim of reducing coastal pollution with plastics, as Sri Lanka was identified as the 5th nation to release plastics to the ocean in the entire world.
Moving forward to the 2nd quarter of the year, as this quarter resulted in many difficulties to gather the internal members due to recurring examinations and work commitments a different approach was taken to tackle this. The annual club gathering and the trip were conducted during this period to increase the engagement of the internal member base. Moreover, the general members of the club initiated a quick project to treat the stranded elders in the streets with food and medicines as per their need. This project was not published a lot in social media as we felt this was much more related to our hearts than the social media likes.
“What we did, is not for the likes but for the belief we share within our community to be hospitable for anyone and everyone we come across in our life” – Rtr. Sanjeays Fernando
As we stepped into the 3rd quarter of the year, we realized that each of our members comes from different backgrounds and each of their backgrounds carries various needs and requirements. As to address a few of these matters we as a club decided to raise funds to support a school’s athletic meet and yearly award ceremony. Having to receive the blessings and wishes from the school kids who rejoiced a moment of happiness through the funding which was raised from the members of the club.
It is important to mention how the 4th quarter of the year was spent as it was the most crucial time period during the entire year as the world was fighting against the deadliest diseases of this century. This quarter had our most important financial and signature project of our club, which eventually had to be postponed once again due to the restrictions and given by the government officials. To make a positive ending for the Rotaract Year and proceed ahead for the transition, multiple projects were planned and implemented. Few of the notable projects are Green Lockdown and Ammawarune.
Green Lockdown, was a project focused on gardening and planting trees and plants which could be used for food. As we clearly ran this project in social media to gain attention to the cause and create a ripple effect on everyone who sees the post. As during this time social media challenges were trending beyond the usual limits. This project resulted in one of the most successful projects for us in terms of the social media attraction we received from this project along with fulfilling the core objective of the project.
Ammawarune is a project which could be considered as a defining project of the entire club, to show how much we care about each other around us no matter how far they are and which background they come from. This project is specifically focused on the mothers from a village in Nuwerilaya, which is one of the largest inbound tourist locations of this island. Many are not aware that these places do need refurbishments of hospitals and clinics. As we found out about a mother’s clinic which was largely affected by landslides and wet climates, once again the club gathered it’s hand to make sure we fulfil the requirements of the mothers of that village. Refurbishing the mother’s clinic was the biggest help that the entire community needed as many mothers have lost their kids due to various issues which were not treatable at the clinic itself.
As a club, we believe this project would give the blessings of all the beneficiaries of the mother’s clinic to the club as it could be auspicious for the future of this club. Moreover, this project would be the last major project of the Rotaract year 2019/20. The number of projects could be lesser than many other clubs in the movement, but the hearts we touched as a club is greater than any other club in the movement.
As we spoke about the Rotaract Year which is nearing its completion, it is important to understand how the upcoming year is shaping up with a new team of office bearers of this prestigious club. Below are some thoughts which were shared by the incoming president Rtr. Lafraan Lahir and his core team.
In the upcoming Rotaract Year, we as a club are focused on certain areas to strengthen the inner club base and expand the partnerships we have at the moment. As the Newly elected President, Rtr. Lafraan Lahir is expected to take in the office along with his office bearers in the coming month. As Rtr. Lafraan believes in team spirit and togetherness, during his tenure, he has planned numerous projects based on building the team spirit and promoting the importance of helping others to build themselves while building others.
As a club, we have decided to cluster the year into 4 quarters and keep separate internal goals to keep up the spirit of volunteerism going on within the club and in the movement as a whole. Majority of our members are coming from a similar age group, we have planned exciting projects to attract more individuals and corporate partnerships to pull off an amazing year filled with worthy causes which could directly help the needy community in and around the nation. As it is a vital responsibility of each of us to look after our fellow countrymen.
One of the key areas we as a club will be addressing in this year would be, how to build our lives to be more agile and flexible for tough situations such as COVID19 or Global Economic Crisis. We will be initiating a ground-level plan to build sustainable solutions and recommendations for youngsters who are affected and suffering from the recent past situation. Moreover, we as a club believe that we need to focus on a global level threat on humankind and the kindness around humans.
We would like to invite you all to join hands with us to build our community to be much stronger and wiser with situations and be supportive to each other without considering any cast or creed as we all belong into one mother nation. Setting aside our differences, let’s get together to strengthen and build a support system for greater causes along with volunteering to make a difference within our community.
Viva La Rotaract.
Rtr. Yakuta Dawood and Rtr. Thariq Hamad
Rotaract Club of Colombo North
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