Month In Review: May

Welcome to our latest ‘Month in Review’, where we bring you up to speed on the latest feats of Rotaract Arts. It would probably do you a lot of good if you strap yourself in because we have a LOT to cover this month! You could say that our club members went into overdrive during the month of May where we saw the completion of fourteen (yes, you read that correctly) projects. Let’s dive right in!

Speak Now 2022

“Speak Now! ‘22” is a skills development initiative organized by the Professional Development Avenue of the Rotaract Club. The project was conducted in two phases, and the main webinar was held on 14th May 2022. The objective of this project was to develop the public speaking skills of the participants and overcome their fear in this regard. The webinar covered areas such as tips and exercises to improve public speaking skills, and how to prepare and organize speeches. The session was conducted by Mr. Ruwin Mapa, who is the founder and head coach of the public speaking, debating, and announcing institute ‘Coaching by Mapa’.

The SDG Roundtable: Phase Two

The second phase of ‘The SDG Roundtable’ is an initiative by the Editorial (registered under the community service avenue) which aimed to provide insight and create awareness of the status of SDGs’ implementation in Sri Lanka via a webinar. The webinar took place on the 29th of May 2022, from 7.30-8.30 pm via Zoom. The event was graced by two eminent panelists namely, Ms. Chiranthi Senanayake and Mr. Sudarsha de Silva who spoke on the topic “The implementation of SDGs in Sri Lanka and the way forward” from a policy and a grass-roots angle respectively. The discussion was moderated by the club’s very own Director of International Service, Rtr. Hansy Paboda and saw a participation of over 30 individuals from within and outside the university.

SLAMM 22’

SLAMM is a recurring initiative by the five Rotaract Clubs of the University of Colombo namely, Rotaract Clubs of the Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Management, Faculty of Science, and the Faculty of Law. The event took place on the 26th of May 2022 at the premises of the University of Colombo, in the format of a scavenger hunt. This year, participants were introduced as teams of notorious criminals who were recruited for a heist organized by an individual named “The Professor.” The team had to break into the hypothetical Central Bank of Sri Lanka where they were required to print money, steal it and safely escape! The theme for this year’s SLAMM was a satirical twist on the famous Netflix show ‘Money Heist’ and the present economic situation of Sri Lanka. Each team was led from one faculty to another based on the clues and the games in each faculty. The hunt began in the Faculty of Science and ended in the Faculty of Law. 

Rotary One Million Tree Stories

Rotary Sri Lanka, in partnership with Hayleys PLC, launched an initiative with the vision of planting one million trees. The aim of the project was to help Sri Lanka reforest to support future generations. The Rotaract Club of the University of Colombo, Faculty of Arts contributed to the cause through a monetary donation.

Orientation 2022

The Orientation of the Rotaract Club of the University of Colombo Faculty of Arts took place on the 27th of May virtually via Zoom. This was chiefly organized by the Club service avenue. The newly joined members were welcomed to the club and were given a descriptive understanding of the club, avenues, and role of the club within the faculty and by extension the university. The orientation saw the participation of over 80 new members this year. 

Ministry of Magic Day Out

“Ministry of Magic Day Out” is a Club Service initiative by the Rotaract Clubs of the University of Colombo, the Faculty of Arts, and the Rotaract Club of the University of Peradeniya. This initiative was organized to create a platform for the members of both clubs to interact with each other while engaging in a fun session based on the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. This was held on the 27th of May 2022 from 7pm onwards via zoom. The participants were divided into four departments of the Ministry of Magic and comprised six challenges. At the end of the session, total marks were calculated and the Department of Magical Transportation was declared the winner of the games.

Enigma Phase Two

Mystery and the macabre have always fascinated us as youngsters, which is exactly what ‘Enigma’ focused on. What started off as an idea which saw birth within the minds of our very own Editorial team, ‘Enigma’ was organized and executed by the Editorial as an original project and had two phases. The initial phase was a series of articles published on this very site! (yes, this is us telling you to read them if you haven’t already!). The main objective of the project was to improve and enhance both research and writing skills of the Editorial team. Phase II of ‘Enigma’ in contrast to its counterpart,  was a virtual game session which was done in tandem with ‘Forspoken Phase II’, and was intended to serve as an outlet to relieve the stresses encountered during exam season.

AdminFund Raiser

Despite its relatively straightforward name, the fundraiser was in reality rather a stroke of genius. It is no secret that some of us find it difficult to bear the expenses of club membership, and what better way to circumvent the issue than to organize a fundraiser? One could argue that the expenses of a fundraiser is often borne by its organizers, but not this one! RotaractArts was able to minimize its expenses as it made use of products that were already in excess from previous projects and thus minimum expenses were incurred. You know what they say, waste not, want not!

Bhasha

‘Bhasha’ conducted by the Community Service avenue alongside our very own President and Secretary, Rtr’s Anudi Karunaratne and Dulari Bookoladeniya, focused on the sustainable development goal of ‘Quality Education’. Through Bhasha, RotaractArts was able to donate children’s encyclopedias to Co/S Vidyathilaka Vidyalaya while also providing a scholarship worth Rs 20,000 to children with financial difficulties. Despite its relatively small reach, the scholarship is set to be made an annual contribution and gives credence to the saying that it is the little things that make a lot of impact.

Forspoken Phase Two

‘Forspoken’ was the second of the Editorial’s original projects for this year. Its primary focus was to dive deep into historically significant and culturally impactful man-made structures in the world through a series of articles. Much like the Editorials previous projects, the initial phase was a series of articles which was spear-headed by Rtr. Nirmali Ameresekere while the second was an engaging and entertaining game session hosted by our very own Rtr. Yeshani Fernando and Rtr. Shihara Ferdinando. 

Kuppiya ‘22

A signature project that is conducted annually. Kuppiya was also a two part project, the first of which was a webinar under the tagline ‘you are beautiful just the way you are’ conducted by 3 guest speakers who had personal experience with body dysmorphia. The second phase was conducted with the Rotaract Club of Jadavpur Greens and was a series of posts that were published based on the experience of victims of body dysmorphia. This year Kuppiya focused on the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of gender equality, more specifically to end discrimination against women and girls; its objective – to normalize being comfortable in one’s own skin. Kuppiya ‘22 focused on a controversial and often overlooked topic, which in our humble opinion was a much-needed area of conversation.

Let’s Talk Periods

‘Let’s Talk Periods’, as the title speaks for itself, focused on yet another project that if often discussed in hushed tones – menstruation and environmentally friendly alternatives to menstruation products. The project was conducted as a joint initiative with the Rotaract Club of the Faculty of Law and the Rotaract Club of Kandy and comprised of two phases. The series of posters and articles that were published under the initial phase were trilingual and as such, was successful in reaching a wide audience. The second phase was a webinar conducted by Dr Thirimadura Ruchira Lasanga – senior registrar in obstetrics and gynecology at the Peradeniya Teaching Hospital. ‘Let’s Talk Periods’ was successful in its objective of breaking the stigma surrounding menstruation and its discussion – leave it to the Community Service avenue to once again fearlessly lead us towards being more vocal.

– The Editorial