Rtr. IPP Dinandi Samaraweera and the Pushing of New Boundaries

Since the day I entered the University of Colombo, I’d always wanted to get involved in social work and extracurricular activities  other than my studies. I was very much looking forward to the ‘open day’ where all the clubs and societies introduced themselves and opened the opportunity for us to join hands with them and their missions. I was walking around the Yellows Common Area, and saw this particular Akki who was talking to a bunch of freshers about the Rotaract Club. She had so much energy and enthusiasm In her. She explained the motives of the Rotaract movement, particularly of our club  and encouraged us to join. This akki was none other than Rtr. Dinandi Samraweera. The 9th president of our beloved Rotaract club.

Our multi talented immediate past president is currently completing her 4 year degree in Economics while at the same time following the higher diploma programme in International Relations at BCIS. She believes that gathering experience beyond mere paper qualifications is important in building a successful career. Rotaract has helped her in this respect says Dinandi, as she has gathered varied soft skills and learnt valuable leadership qualities. The motherly care she is famed for (she at times can be a granny too) is surely one of the soft skills she has polished over the years she has been in Rotaract.  

Rotaract became a platform through which she got to work closely with her friends and got to know them better. On the other hand she shared that she isn’t someone who is active on social media, and hence social media campaigns were not her cup of tea at Rotaract. Rotaract is after all, all about pushing its members beyond their comfort zone.  

She didn’t hesitate at all to advise us (her beloved kids) on our future projects, saying, “It is essential that every member consider their responsibilities seriously and to complete the assigned tasks successfully, but keeping in mind our motto unity in diversity and collaboratively contributing to the projects to achieve the club’s goal .”