Sunday Times 2
Rotary holds grand banquet to honour first Sri Lankan head of Rotary
View(s):The Hilton Hotel will be the venue tonight of a special gathering of the elite of Sri Lankan society as Rotary Sri Lanka honours K R Ravindran as he visits the country as the Rotary International President – the first Sri Lankan to hold this prestigious office.
K R Ravindran
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as Chief Guest at the event will lead a special gathering inclusive of former President Mrs Chandrika Kumaratunga, Cabinet Ministers, Parliamentarians, the diplomatic community, captains of Industry, other Business leaders and Rotarians and their families in a special Presidential Banquet to felicitate Ravindran on this achievement which has brought great honour to Sri Lanka and has raised its public image throughout the world.
The flag of Sri Lanka flies proudly from the Rotary Headquarters in Evanston, Chicago, USA and whenever Ravindran attends a Rotary event anywhere in the world the Sri Lankan flag is hoisted and the Sri Lankan national anthem is played.
Ravindran is CEO and co-founder of Printcare PLC, Sri Lanka’s largest printing and packing company. It is publicly listed and has won many national and international awards for excellence. It provides design-to-delivery printing, packing, and digital media solutions, and is the No. 1 producer of tea bag tags and sachets in the world. Ravindran insists that his company maintain a focus on environmental sustainability, social responsibility, community engagement, and high ethical standards.
A member of the Rotary Club of Colombo since 1974, Ravindran has served Rotary International as treasurer, director, and Foundation trustee, as well as in many other offices. When he was his country’s PolioPlus committee chair, he headed a task force that negotiated a ceasefire with northern militants during National Immunization Days. Ravindran also chaired the internationally acclaimed Schools Reawakening project, which rebuilt 25 tsunami-devastated schools, benefiting 15,000 children. He also serves on the boards of several other companies and charitable trusts.
The world’s first service club, the Rotary Club of Chicago, Illinois, USA, was formed on 23 February 1905 by Paul P.Harris, an attorney who wished to recapture in a professional club the same friendly spirit he had felt in the small towns of his youth.
The name “Rotary” was derived from the early practice of rotating meetings among members’ offices. By 1921, Rotary clubs had been formed on six continents, and the organization adopted the name Rotary International a year later.
As Rotary grew, its mission expanded beyond serving the professional and social interests of club members. Rotarians began pooling their resources and contributing their talents to help serve communities in need. The organization’s dedication to this ideal is best expressed in its principal motto: Service Above Self. Rotary also later embraced a code of ethics, called ‘The 4-Way Test’, that has been translated into hundreds of languages.
During and after World War II, Rotarians became increasingly involved in promoting international understanding. In 1945, 49 Rotary members served in 29 delegations to the United Nations Charter Conference. Rotary still actively participates in UN conferences by sending observers to major meetings and promoting the United Nations in Rotary publications.
Rotary was introduced to Sri Lanka in 1929 with the founding of the Rotary Club of Colombo. Since then Rotary has grown from strength to strength and today there are 70 Rotary Clubs with a membership of over 2000 spread across the entire country.
Throughout its history, Rotary Sri Lanka has worked very closely with the local community and has been associated in a number of pioneering efforts for the betterment of society.
It was Rotary that pioneered the formation of the Cancer Society, The CNAPT – the Ceylon National Association for the Prevention of Tuberculosis, SLANA – Sri Lanka Anti Narcotic Agency, Diabetes Centre, the Cancer Early detection Centre, Polio immunization and the Schools Re-awaken Project to rebuild 25 schools totally destroyed by the tsunami of December 2004.
All these efforts were realized as a result of close dialogue with the local authorities and the Rotary ideal of serving the community through meaningful and lasting solutions.
Perhaps the best known Rotary project has been its pledge to eradicate Polio from the world. In 1985, Rotary launched Polio Plus, one of the most ambitious humanitarian programs ever undertaken by a private entity and today has achieved 99% success with just a few countries still to be cleared.
Thanks to Rotary, Sri Lanka has not had any reports of polio cases for the last 20 years. Rotary has spent almost $ 2 million on Polio immunization efforts in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka’s Schools Rebuilding project received international acclaim for its work and high levels of transparency and accountability. This 15M US Dollar project is the largest ever undertaken by one single Rotary district globally.
Today, there are over 1.2 million Rotarians in 35,000 Rotary clubs spread across 220 countries and geographical areas worldwide and at the helm of the organisation is our very own K R Ravindran – a Rotarian from Sri Lanka who has brought great honour to all Sri Lankans by his selection to this high office.