Sunday Times 2
Kitakyushu Jaycees here to mark 40-year bond with Wellawatte Jaycees
View(s):A delegation comprising ten members of the Kitakyushu Jaycees of Japan is due in Sri Lanka shortly to celebrate a 40-year sister chapter relationship with the Wellawatte Jaycees.
In the picture from left to right. Maj Shirley Silva, A.H.M Fowzie former Mayor of Colombo, Isfahani Sameen then president of Wellawatte Jaycees, Ryutaro Fukamachi president of Kitakyushu Jaycees, Tadayoshi Tao, First Secretary, Embassy of Japan
President of the Wellawatte Jaycees, Safiya Nawaz, said she was excited at the prospect of meeting with members of the Kitakyushu Jaycees to celebrate this 40- year relationship which commenced long years before she was born.
“We pay tribute to the senior Jaycee members of the Wellawatte Jaycees Chapter because it was they who had formed the sister chapter relationship and cemented it over the years with many projects between the two chapters,” she said.
The sister chapter bond was signed on November 30, 1975 at the then Hotel Inter Continental when a six-member delegation from the city of Kitakyushu headed by Ryutaro Fukamachi visited Sri Lanka for the official signing ceremony. The Weallawatte Jaycess were headed by Isfahani Sameen who later went on to become world president of the organisation.
Explaining the history of the tie-up between the two chapters, secretary of the Wellawatte Jaycees Sajani Ravindran said the highlights between the sister chapter relationship was the holding of the Sri Lanka Trade Fair in Kitakyushu City’s famous Izutsuya Department Store in Kokura in 1977 and a similar event at the Itozu Zoo also in 1977.
Sajani added the success of these events helped the Wellawatte Jaycees bag two prestigious international awards at the subsequent world congress of the Junior Chamber Internationl (Jaycees).
Past president of the Wellawatte Jaycees, Imran Sameen said the Wellawatte Jaycees had gifted two baby elephants to the children of Kitakyushu City and these elephants were ‘housed’ at the Itozu zoo. The Kitakyushu Jaycees gifted a 12 seater Rosa bus and high tech cameras to the Wild Life Department through the Wellawatte Jaycees.
Another feather in the Wellawatte Jaycees’ cap was when their candidate Senaka Senanayake won the international award for one of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons (TOYP) in the world.
The Wellawatte Jaycees have made elaborate arrangements to welcome the delegation from the Kitakyushu Jaycees The Japanese ambassador to Sri Lanka will be the chief guest at this gala event.