20th
Installation ceremony of the Rotaract Club of Colombo Regent
The 20th
Installation ceremony of the Rotaract Club of Colombo Regent was held on the 23rd
of August at the Russian Cultural Centre. On behalf of our club Rtr. Nilukshi
Jayawardena and Rtr. Ruzni Faik attended the event. This installation ceremony
of the club is considered significant as this portrays the revival of the club.
The ceremony began with
the welcome address presented by the Project Chairperson and the Club Service
Director, Rtr. Tahanie Yu. Following this the Outgoing President Rtr. Chathura
Wickramatileka spoke about the past year of the club and how they went through
the revival process of bringing the club back to its feet. He highlighted the
fact that they did not want to have an installation ceremony last year but
instead to focus their efforts on a few community service projects. The
signature project was “Project with a difference”. This is a concert organized
for the differently abled children, where both the audience as well as the
performers were these gifted kids.
Rtr. Chathura reminded
that Rotaract is a voluntary organization and thus should be driven by
volunteerism. Next the Outgoing President Rtr. Chathura Wickramatileka collared
the Incoming President Rtr. Dinusha De S. Wijeyeratne. Rtr. Chathura mentioned
that Rtr. Dinusha has been the key player in reviving the club. Rtr. Dinusha
has been instrumental in getting in new members to the club and thereby
increasing the strength of the club.
Incoming President Rtr.
Dinusha Wijeyeratne rewind to the past and reminded us about the high standards
the club had set since its inception in 1995 by charter President of the club
Rtr. PHF Kumudu Warnakulasuriya, who now is a well-recognized personality not
only in Rotary Sri Lanka but worldwide. Rtr. Dinusha however mentioned that the
club has not been able to maintain such standard in the recent past but
reassures that they will bounce back strong. She compares their transition
process to that of the Sri Lankan Cricket Team, which is trying to transform
into a brand new team post the retirement of the legends Sangakkara and Mahela.
Thus Rtr Dinusha is happy that she and her board are given the leadership to
guide the club towards its evolution and lay a foundation in which the future
boards of the club can thrive on. Before she introduced her board for the year
she quoted the following statement made by the Rotary International President
Rtn. K. R. Ravindran
“You have ONE year to
take that potential and turn it into a reality. You have ONE year to lead the
clubs of your District and transform the lives of the others. You have ONE year
to build monuments that will endure forever, carved not in granite or marble
but in the hearts and lives of generations to come”
The Board of Directors
2015/16 of Rotaract Club of Colombo Regent
President- Rtr. Dinusha
De S. Wijeyeratne
Secretary- Rtr.
Nilushika Wittachy
Community Service
Director- Rtr. Savini Iddamalgoda
Club Service Director-
Rtr. Tahanie Yu
Professional
Development Director- Rtr. Ashni Perera
International
Understanding Director- Rtr. Saarah Bawa
“Nothing is impossible!
The word itself says I’m Possible!” says the DRR Rtr. PHF Sathyendra
Tharmakulerajasingham in opening his address. He stated that Rotaract enables a
person to think out of the box, justified by the Outgoing President Rtr.
Chathura who has gone through all the challenges in successfully reviving the
club. He further spoke about the legacy of the Rotaract Club of Colombo Regent
which has produced 3 DRRs. He then invited everyone to “Celebrate Rotaract”
which is the theme this year of the Rotaract District. He called everyone to
celebrate Diversity by remembering the famous quote by the Cricket Legend Kumar
Sangakkara who incidentally played his last innings during the installation
day,
"I am Tamil, I'm
Sinhalese, I'm Muslim and Burgher. I'm a Buddhist, I'm a Hindu, a follower of
Islam and Christianity. But above all, today and always I will be, proudly, Sri
Lankan."
Next up was one of the
most creative entertainment item we had seen, the members of the Club came
together on stage and beautifully sang the classic Pocahontas
The Guest of Honor Rtn.
PHF Kumudu Warnakulasuriya played a multitude of roles during the day. He is
not only from the Rotary club sponsoring the Rotaract Club of Colombo Regent
but is also the Rotary adviser to the club. On top of these he is the charter
President of the Rotaract Club of Colombo Regent, where he got together with a
few Interactors in 1995 to form this club. He addressed the gathering by
conveying the story of a cockroach which was told by the new CEO of Google
Sundar Pitchai. The lesson behind the story is that sometimes everyone is faced
with the same situation but the way we react and respond to it differs between
each of us. Hence it is important that we face the situation positively and
overcome the challenges.
The Chief Guest,
President of the Rotary Club of Colombo, Rtn. Rohan Karunaratne highlighted the
fact that Rotaract is only a training for Rotary, so it’s important that each
Rotaractor goes on to join Rotary. He mentioned that sometimes Rotaract Clubs
do better projects than Rotary Clubs. Therefore it does not matter how small
you are but what matters is what you do and the impact you create. He urged
every Rotarator to encourage their friends and get them into joining Rotaract.
The floor was then open
for felicitations and on behalf of our club Secretary Rtr. Nilukshi Jayawardena
congratulated and conveyed the best wishes to the incoming President Rtr.
Dinusha Wijeyeratne.
The Rotaract Club of
University of Colombo, Faculty of Management & Finance congratulates the
Rotaract Club of Colombo Regent for a successful installation ceremony and
wishes the club all the best for the year 2015/16.
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