Rotaract is a platform where young volunteers take part in building their own potential while helping the ones in need. Simply put, Rotaractors are the spirit of the youth that sees the world with their eyes wide open and address the issues they come across.

International Youth Day (IYD) gives an opportunity to celebrate and mainstream young peoples’ voices, actions, and initiatives. It brings youth issues to the international community’s attention and celebrates the potential of youth as active partners in the global society. It falls on the 12th of August every year.

Let’s take a look at how we, the Rotaract Club of University of Sri Jayewardenepura have taken the initiative as change-makers of youth towards the well-being of the blooming youth of our country.

Rotary believes in developing the next generation of leaders. Rotary helps younger leaders build leadership skills, expand education and learn the value of service.

Rotaract is a Rotary-sponsored service club for young adults between the ages of 18 and 30. The youth of Rotaractors are spent on service projects, volunteering experiences mainly targeting the next generation of the community; THE YOUTH.

Youth are the future of the world, they need to be protected and nurtured. They should be allowed to spread their wings freely and safely. Rotary is a place where youth work for youth.

We, the Rotaract Club of University of Sri Jayewardenepura have a glorious history of 10 years of which throughout that time we have initiated many projects for the well-being of the community.

FOR THEM TO BLOSSOM, a signature project of the Community Service Avenue of RACUSJ was initiated in 2018 and continued for three consecutive years by uplifting and developing the living standards of individuals, especially the youth in need of support and care. It started by addressing sexual harassment and conducting counseling sessions for survivors of sexual harassment, mainly minors, with the sole aim of shaping up their future.

The project made its way to build a stable mentality in the mindsets of the children in the rehabilitation centers and identify their entrepreneurial skills to empower their youth. In the third year FOR THEM TO BLOSSOM went beyond a global pandemic to uplift and develop the living standards of individuals and communities in need of support and care.

One of the most heartfelt projects done by the club is BUTTERFLY EFFECT, initiated in 2017 gained recognition from the public since the project addressed a highly sensitive topic; suicide and a large number of people reached out to talk about their struggles and ask for help.

Throughout the three consecutive years, the project was dedicated to create awareness and open the eyes of the community on the importance of mental health and compassion towards each other to ameliorate the mental wellbeing in society.

SOMEONE’S DAUGHTER, a highly praised, acknowledged and award-winning project run by the Public Relations Avenue of RACUSJ, aims to create a countervailing force against violence women encounter in society for three consecutive years.

Not only does it work against violence and sexual harassment of women, but also focuses on empowering women to be socially accepted and to change the social norms where women are systematically discriminated against. This is the 21st century where a patriarchal society no longer exists.

At a time like this, it is of importance to educate the youth on these issues, thus SOMEONE’S DAUGHTER carries out the task by raising awareness and by lending a helping hand to women in need.

The young energy of the youthful Rotaractors was not just used for the wellbeing of girls, boys, men, and women but also for the benefit of the Earth as a whole. The International Service Avenue of RACUSJ took the initiative to protect water bodies and aquatic biodiversity and make a positive impact on life underwater and life on land through the project AQUATICA.

Meanwhile, the project GROWING GREEN was carried out for the second time by the Environment Services Avenue to reduce the carbon footprint which has been a threat to our lives. Their prime aim was to create national and international awareness on carbon footprint, analyze the carbon footprints of all Rotaractors and take the steps to neutralize those emissions in a ten years’ time frame.

The energetic youth of the club was able to carry out the survey and plant 1000 mangroves in the Puttalam Lagoon.

At the moment the whole world is facing a pandemic threat. Despite the control measurements by the government, there was a need to educate the school system on the COVID-19 pandemic, and we as young Rotaractors stepped up against this deadly disease with the project PERAMAGA. Project “PERAMAGA” was initiated by the club under the guidance of the Rotaract District 3220 to ‘Stop the spread-beyond COVID-19’.

Project FINSIGHT was also a project mainly focused on the youth who are the main target of scams. This was an initiation to help people from being misled into financial misfortunes.

The YOUTH ENTREPRENEUR SUMMIT, also known as Project YES, the place where Youth are given a chance to reveal their creative business ideas to the whole world, is a platform we at RACUSJ built to empower the startup businesses and small scale businesses to let the world know what they’re up to and acknowledge them for their best efforts.

As said, yes, we are still facing the COVID-19 pandemic. We still do not see an end to it and with the prevailing situation, carrying out projects is much more challenging.

However, while binding under the health restrictions and regulations we Rotaractors, the spirit of the Youth are determined to carry out, FOR THEM TO BLOSSOM; to bloom with the needy, BUTTERFLY EFFECT; to guide the lives in darkness towards the light, SOMEONE’S DAUGHTER; to protect everyone’s daughters, AQUATICA; to preserve the life underwater, GROWING GREEN; to breath on a greener Earth and YES; to say yes to the brain sweeping ideas of the youth, and many more projects to make an impact as the spirited youth in the coming year too.

Let us use the energy and passion a youth possesses towards a brighter future. Hope to see everyone joining us for future missions!

Written by Rtr. Nethmi Ranasinghe