Empowerment and strength – central themes at Rotaract District conference
Empowerment and strength were the underlying themes behind the two days when Rotaractors gathered for their 23rd Annual District Conference. Kick starting the technical sessions was the opening ceremony held last week where Rotaractors representing 51 different clubs came together at the HNB auditorium. The festivities of the evening included empowering messages and testimonies by Rotaractors. In keeping with the Rotaract spirit, the inspired youth who constantly work for the betterment of themselves and others around them sat through technical sessions under the theme ‘Believe in Youth, Believe in Rotaract.’
The efforts of the youth were encouraged and in the words of District Rotaract Representative (DRR) Abdul Wahid Sathar the Rotaract has currently grown to be quite distinct from the Rotary, assuming its own unique identity. This observation was made in the presence of distinguished guests including the Chief Guest for the evening, District Governor Rotarian Imran Hassen and German DRR Rotarian Janek D from RI District 1850.
Listening to well travelled key note speaker, Rotarian Bede Dhammika Cooray was encouraging for the crowd who came to learn about his experiences including raising US$70,000 for the victims of the 2004 Tsunami. Rotarain Cooray spoke of his involvement with the global network of Rotarians to inspire his 18-30 year old audience. Working on projects in Sri Lanka, as well as in Ghana and Ecuador to eliminate polio among the underprivileged communities during his time as the International Service Director of his club, made his input and encouragement invaluable to those aspiring to do the same.
The technical sessions which took place on the second day of the conference continued at the Galadari Hotel. The morning session was opened by Charitha Ratwatta Jr. and Nayana Samaranayaka. Charitha Ratwatta Jr. having gone to University in UK and continuing his MBA with the Stanford Graduate School of Business, currently works at Dialog Axiata PLC as the Chief Manager- Sustainability, has founded Rural Returns (Guarantee) Limited Sri Lanka. This organization functions to eliminate poverty in sustainable ways was set up with the support of the Stanford Social Innovation Fellowship. Being the Founding director of the Brain Gain Organization, the SL2College programme was also initiated by Charith and offers advice to students with regard to higher education options.
Co- founder of the SL2College programme Nayana Samaranayake was a student at Royal College and graduated from a University in the USA. The duo spoke about the challenges of undertaking projects on a large scale. Having about 700 advisors in their programmes today the two encouraged Rotaractors to push forward and to “never be afraid of failing.”
Heading the “Love, not Hate” campaign to promote social and religious harmony Fadhil Bakeer Markar was another speaker at the conference. Fadhil was the first Sri Lankan to lead the Student’s Union of the London School of Economics and Political science from where he graduated and continued his further education.
Initiating ‘Connect,’ an organization that connects youth to opportunities and leading and representing Sri Lanka in forums like the Presidential Classroom in Washington DC and the Global Young Leaders Conference in New York, Fadhil encouraged the young to be active participants in what goes on around them. The point he put across was that believing in youth, both present and past means to believe in what youth can enable a person to accomplish. Quoting Kofi Annan he said “let us ensure that all young people have the opportunity to fully engage in society.”