This month marked the end of an interesting trip to Sri Lanka by a group of Rotaractors from Hong Kong. The young group was hosted by the Rotaract Club of the University of Moratuwa. The ‘Mora’ Club is known for its novel ‘HandZ’ project which was acknowledged as the best community service project by the Rotaract District. The Rotaract Club of Kowloon Golden Mile (KGM), Hong Kong teamed up with the ‘HandZ’ team during this stint.
This is the first ever International service trip hosted by the Rotaract Club of the University of Moratuwa. The trip took the Hong Kong team to Polonnaruwa where the HandZ project is under operation. The Hong Kongers have worked for around 5 months to gather funds and material for the project.
The Rotaractors of the two clubs gathered pencils, pens, books, crayons and other stationary to be distributed to underprivileged children in 17 schools. They also collected and distributed over 300 English books to the same schools. The Rotaractors of KGM reached out to their friends and patrons to collect 6 laptops for the university entrants from Polonnaruwa. The project not only supported school children, but the Rotaract Club of KGM found sponsors from Hong Kong for a mini project to provide water and sanitary facilities to a village welfare centre.
The villagers introduced the Hong Kong team to the local culture with food, music and dance. The 16 young men and women from Hong Kong were given an impromptu encounter with the way of life in Polonnaruwa. The two days spent in Polonnaruwa allowed the Hong Kong team members to familiarize themselves with traditional forms of entertainment.
The visitors from Hong Kong spent two days in Kandy as well. The Rotaractors of Kandy and the University of Peradeniya joined up with guided tours around the Kandy town. The members of the four clubs began their new year on December 31, with songs around a campfire.
The delegation visited the ruins of Polonnaruwa, Sigiriya, Kandy and Pinnawala. The guiding at all these places were provided by the members of the local club promoting excellent cultural exchange between the two clubs.
The Honk Kong Rotaractors also spent a morning with the children at the Sneha Home, Wellwatta during their visit, bringing laughter to many unfortunate little children, while contributing to the postcard project, “Hand-in-Hand” that is collecting funds for the cancer hospital by seasonal greeting card sales.
The International Service trip marked a beginning of a new relationship between the two clubs.
The President of the Rotaract Club of the University of Moratuwa, Dilina Fernando said, “This trip gave not only an opportunity to learn about a foreign culture, and support projects such as this to promote International Understanding (IU). In promoting IU, the most important thing is the experience in Sri Lanka. Clubs connected to international networks have a responsibility in providing that experience.
The amount of service these clubs can do is enormous in promoting the good image of the country.”
The President of the Rotaract Club of Kowloon Golden Mile, Jennie went on to say, “We are delighted to have the Rotaract Club of the University of Moratuwa as our host club for the 8-day International Service trip.
The community projects we did jointly in Polonnaruwa, the excellent arrangement of accommodation, the well prepared guided sightseeing tours and the unforgettable hospitality and passion from them all significantly contribute so much to the success of the trip. We appreciate their effort to put together this wonderful experience for both of our clubs.” |
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