Project ‘Saksharta’, organized by the Rotaract Club of Delhi Riverside in order to celebrate the Literacy Week and mark the occasion of International Literacy Day, was a great opportunity to showcase our projects related to Education and Literacy category beyond the boundaries of Sri Lanka. They launched a joint bulletin and a video showcasing the collective efforts of all the participating clubs. The aim of this event was to interact with children to impart them with good values, inspire them to study and learn new and innovative things and create an impact in the life of anyone who is deprived of their basic rights. To facilitate the project requirements, participants had to send a project description along with the pictures taken which focused on any aspects of Literacy. Project Saksharta was a great opportunity to build relationships with International Rotaractors. Below report is about one of the projects we did in the last year that focused on literacy and uplifting education in the society.

Care to Share 3.0

Care to Share is a community service project organized by the Rotaract Club of Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology with the intention of developing the literacy skills of young children. The third phase of the project was carried out during the term 2016-17, under the guidance of President Rtr. Kavinda Bandulasena. On the 27^th of October 2016 the Rotaract Club of SLIIT went far away from Colombo to do the community Service. We donated 100,000LKR worth library books and stationary items to the students of Mudunkadawala Primary School, Siripura, Dimbulagala, and Pollonnaruwa.

Education is the key to break the cycle of poverty that exists in rural areas of Sri Lanka. The school consists of 48 students from grade 1-5. We donated over 500 exercise books and stationary items to the students and donated story books and a set of encyclopedia to start a library in the school.

Obtaining a quality education is the foundation to improving people’s lives and sustainable development. Basic literacy skills have improved tremendously, yet bolder efforts are needed to make even greater strides for achieving universal education goals. Our aim was to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all, which is the 4^th Sustainable Development Goal; Quality Education.

“In some parts of the world, students are going to school every day. It’s their normal life. But in other parts of the world, we are starving for education. It’s like a precious gift. It’s like a diamond.” -Malala Yousafzai

Every child needs a pencil and a book to learn. We helped poor children take a small step in bridging this gap to education through this endeavor. As the school is named as one of the most rural schools in the Polonnaruwa district, the books we donated would be a great support for those students to continue their education and achieve heights in the future.

Libraries put children in the driver’s seat of their education. Library was a necessity to the students as mentioned by the principal. With the books we donated, they got the opportunity to start the library and explore the world of knowledge. Library books are different from textbooks. Kids can be inspired by the teachers during their lessons and then explore their interests further in a library. With a library, children have more access to an improved educational infrastructure and their imagination is stimulated.

Students in the rural areas have to face all sorts of problems to get education. Their guardians are not able to afford their school spending because of which intelligent and ambitious students get miles away from the school education. The project helped the poor students to get equal opportunities for education and helped them to be conscious towards education which will reduce the problem of school drop-out to some extent. As the parents get help in getting educational stuffs, they will motivate their children to get school education and the children will gain confidence.

The principal of the Mudunkadawala Primary School, the students and their parents welcomed us all warmly by giving us flowers and kids hold our hands as we walked inside which made us feel very welcomed.

They had also arranged us breakfast and tea when we arrived. We got the chance to talk with the students and some children have never had the chance to read a book on their own. Afterwards, the principal addressed the gathering and talked about the school history and the difficulties they faced. It was followed by a small speech of our president 2016-17 Rtr. Kavinda Bandulasena. Then we donated stationaries which were packed nicely to each and every student and finally donated the story books and encyclopedias to start a library in the school.

After donating the books they invited us to have lunch with them and it was really an amazing meal.  After the lunch we walked around the school and the kids were so friendly, they even asked us to play cricket with them. So we formed two teams and played cricket till the evening. It was truly a wonderful day.

The project Care to Share helped the underprivileged poor students to get better opportunities to be educated and to contribute in the development of society.

 

Written by-

Rtr. Dilini De Silva

Co-Editor 2017-18