For our 4th episode of the legacy of 10 years in RACUSJ, We had 2 extremely exemplary and also good-looking personalities of the presidency history of the club……
Today we have the 3rd president of the club for the years 2013-2014 Rtr. PP Saroj Somarathne and the 7th president of the club for the years 2018-2018 Rtr. PP Samudya Amarasinghe.
Both of them had made contribution in their own way for the betterment of the Rotaract Club of University of Sri Jayewardenepura.
To carry on with the proceedings our first question was directed to Samudya ayya. “Tell us about your Rotaract journey”. Smiling gently in his calm manner he began reminiscing his tenacious memory. He started off saying that he was quite surprised at the university culture during the first days he came to the university. (we are pretty sure that we too are the same, as university life is a next level experience). According to Samudya ayya, he had first got to know about Rotaract by Rtr.PP Osanda who had made a pretty convincing speech about joining Rotaract in one of their lecture halls.
His first project had been SIHINAYA, which Samudya ayya himself was the chairperson.” Rotaract was a different journey… I have no words to express the total picture of it “. There we saw him being speechless about how good Rotaract has been to him.
Saroj ayya was given the same question to answer, and he approached saying, although he was a silent character at school (to quote his own words…) he always had an idea of doing something extracurricular when he entered uni. After seeing the interesting projects that Rtr.PP Asiri and Rtr.PP Devin was doing, Saroj ayya had realized Rotaract is a good place to be and to make new friends, because he didn’t have a click back then.
Next was to talk about their backup and the support they got from other amazing individuals in Rotaract. Samudya ayya had 20 members in his board. And he made this a chance to mention Rtr. Divya (Secretary), Rtr.Piyumi (Treasurer) and the rest of his crew as well as Rtr.PP Oshani who was the next president of the club after him.
Saroj ayya too was humble enough to mention his board and the previous president and not only that he specially mentioned Prof. Sampath Amarathunge, who is the current chairman at UGC and the Vice chancellor of the university, back then had also been a massive strength to carry on his Rotaract journey amidst of difficulties.
Coming back to Samudya ayya we asked about experience in the project “Butterfly Effect” which won the Gold award during his time. Proudly he added that before winning the Gold award, this project had been recognized as one of the best projects done by a state university in Sri Lanka within a week after launching the project by TNL. He also stated that this project got recognized by the ROTARACTOR newspaper in USA. And as the last words for that question he said the whole project was a massive campaign itself.
During Saroj ayya’s time our club was able to win over 5 awards in the Rotaract District Assembly for the first time and the project “Nethu Dahasak” received the Silver award for the Most Outstanding Community Service Initiative.
We wanted to hear what he had to tell us about the experience he gained from these special achievements. Being the down to earth person he is, we realized what he said, was the gospel truth. “It’s not the awards you will remember, it’s the memories we cherished back then. The biggest award that we have received up to now is the impact we created. All the members worked hard for the benefit of someone else, this resembles the true spirit of Rotaract.
Moving further from achievements and rewards, again we turned to Samudya ayya to ask about the Rotaract Fellowship Summit that was organized in line with the District Theme of the Year; ‘Engage Rotaract Redefine Friendship’ and to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of the Rotaract Movement.
“How was the support you got from the Rotaractors of our club along with the clubs of the district?” the moderator asked.” It was an uncertain period for us, but we took the risk. We had to cover a huge budget around 1 million, but we managed to find almost half of the budget within a month. We thought around 20-30 people will participate for the summit but at the end of the day there were about 200 people participating.
So that’s how it went.”, surely we have hard days in life. But after certain days everything starts falling into place. This is one such example for the above situation. Samudya ayya and his fellow Rotaractors were able to mark an end to the RFS in a high note proving that courage and proper planning can do miracles.
Saroj ayya was the first member of RACUSJ to be selected to serve in the Rotaract District Committee. And if we didn’t ask him about this particular experience, a very important part of his Rotaract journey wouldn’t be highlighted. He has served the club as the director of community service and wholeheartedly his sole interest was to serve the community which he states as the reason for being selected for the Rotaract District Committee. It is worth watching the video to find out how he recalled the project they organized for the world down syndrome day.
Next was a common question for the two past presidents. “What would you say is the biggest learning from your year as the president? And the first one to answer that was Samudya ayya. He said that it was about managing 600 people and looking into each and everyone’s needs, developing patience regarding the external issues, and it is all about managing an organization in Sri Lanka. Running a club while climbing its ladder of success is no easy task. But Samudya ayya and his EXCO and BOD overcame that challenge prospering victoriously. Saroj ayya’s answer to this question was quite short and sweet, but it was as deep as Samudya ayya’s answer.” Be humble, be open and recognize others”
Finally, we reached to the exciting part, and it is fun to call it the rapid fire session because the questions directed at the presidents were expected to be short and impromptu replies in return.
Samudya ayya was the first to go.
- What is the most unforgettable memory you have with the Rotaract club of University of Sri Jayewardenepura?
RFS (Rotaract Fellowship Summit)
- Name three things you learned from Rotaract.
“Be open, be Humble… (agreeing with the answer Saroj Ayya gave before) and the third one is managing the whole crowd”
- Who is your Rotaract role model and why?
He was being honest and modest when he said he really didn’t have any role model because he was appointed the president only after a shorter period after he joined the club.
- Name three projects which were so close to you during your year
Movie Marathon, Butterfly Effect and RFS.
- Were you a person who attend an installation just to eat food?
50% yes, 50% no (which made everyone giggle of course)
- Give one piece of advice for our current president of the club
“Arrange more projects like this maybe with dinner or lunch” – behind the calm exterior was truly a funny guy.
- Ever been scolded by parents for going out often and coming home late just because of Rotaract?
No, not at all. (Simply wow!)
- Name one thing you always wanted to change in our club
“At that time, the culture”, he said. Rotaract is for everybody with the potential regardless of what his or her class was and where they are from.
- Name 5 friends you made from Rotaract.
Vidushith, my whole BOD, Oshani, Chathuni – he had many more but couldn’t limit it to just 5 people.
- What does Rotaract club of university of Sri Jayewardenepura mean to you?
It’s a FAMILY.
Then it was Saroj ayya’s turn to answer the rapid fire thrown at him.
- Favourite club project?
Nethu dahasak
- What was the biggest challenge you had during your year?
“Managing conflicts”
- Name 5 friends you made from Rotaract.
Devin,Chanaka, Shashika, Inuri , Nipuni and there’s a lot.
- The most unforgettable memory you had during an installation
“Right after my installation, half of my board wanted to leave.”
- Name three things you learnt from Rotaract.
Be humble and Be open
Again, be humble – because that solves problems.
- Who is your Rotaract role model and why?
Devin, because he was quite passionate with what he did.
- Name a fellow Rotaractor who was more than just a friend?
Yes, Asel
- Describe your BOD in one word.
“AWESOME. – and I was the asshole” he added laughing.
- Advice to our fellow club members.
“Make sure when you join Rotaract not to think of what you are getting, think of what you can give”– A main reason for Saroj ayya to be interested in community service projects, we assume.
“If you give something to the club, definitely you will get something in return.”
- And finally, what does Rotaract club of university of Sri Jayewardenepura mean to you?
Anyone is welcome there, and it is open to everyone.
With that we are more than grateful to the 3rd president of the club Rtr.PP Saroj Somarathne and the 7th president of the club Rtr.PP Samudya Amarasinghe for painting a picture for us on how your Rotaract journey made your lives colourful.
And other REMARKABLE journey came to an end!!!!
AWAIT for the NEXT episode…… and YEAH it’s the last one, but you’ll REMEMBER it……..
Written by: Rtr. Hasini Amanda
Moderator: Rtr. Nethmi Wimalasena
Video Editing & Graphic Designing – Rtr. Dinuka Lakshan, Rtr. Ushan Kavindu & Rtr. Nipuni Rajapaksha
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