Happy Hour: A Visit to the Challenged Children’s Association of Sri Lanka

BY Rtr. Nathali Karunathilake

As Earvin Johnson once said, “All kids need is a little help, a little hope, and somebody who believes in them,” and that is exactly what the Community Service Avenue of the Rotaract Club of the University of Colombo, Faculty of Arts set out to do with the project Happy Hour.

It was no easy feat; there was so much thought to put into it and a comparatively short amount of time to execute our plans, not to mention that the Happy Hour Organizing Committee was put together with people whose schedules rarely seemed to align. And yet, after several online meetings, a week of selling cat stickers, and hours spent at the Greens gluing together paper flowers and tying bright, red bows, we were all ready to meet up on the first of August at the Challenged Children’s Aid Association of Sri Lanka (CCAASL) in Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte.

And what an evening it was! The children drew wonderful portraits of themselves, envisioning being their best selves in the future. Then tea was served, and we all spent a wonderful time singing songs together. It was also eye-opening to those of us in the Community Service Avenue and a motivator to keep organizing projects so we can do our part in contributing to the betterment of society. 

Overall, the evening was a tremendous success.  Around six in the evening, the organizing committee of the Happy Hour expressed our heartfelt gratitude to the CCAASL and bid each other adieu. It was bittersweet to say goodbye, and this venture only makes us more determined to arrange future projects with even more gusto.