Environment is everything for us, in every moment, in each and every second as long as we live on this heavenly planet till our last breath of our life. Without any doubt no one can utter a single controversy for that statement since we all deserve that without any conditions from our mother nature. With that perspective equally among us, we; the rotaractors of SLIIT thought of stepping into something extraordinary in our journey of escaping the ordinary. So that’s how it led the pathway for Sri Pada Cleaning Trek, a cleaning campaign organised by the rotaractors of SLIIT along with the 3^rd year fellow undergraduates of SLIIT.

None other than anything, Sri Pada or the Adam’s Peak being the holiest place among Buddhists in Sri Lanka, is also among the top places that struggle for its environmental issues happening repeatedly during its seasonal times. The bad effects from most of the pilgrims have already lead it to face many difficulties that are crucial for its existence for years to come. So that’s why SLIIT rotaractors decided to do a cleaning campaign along with a pilgrimage at Sri Pada in the descend from kuruwita Erathna route.

The cleaning campaign started early in the morning on the 10^th of January just after few days of New Year celebrations. The rotaractors along with the undergraduate students got divided into groups of 5 to 4 and descended down the kuruwita route which longs nearly for a distance of 20km. The main plan was to collect all garbage beside the route and to put them into bio degradable bags which were handed over to each and every participant at the beginning. All the participants coordinated and communicated with each other so the campaign ran so smoothly. Some of the pilgrims who were back from their pilgrimage were very keen to join hands with us. We welcomed them warmly. The crew gathered at Galwangediya to have a small snack in the middle of the journey. By that time most of the bags were full with garbage which showed signs of success of our campaign.

Finally, travelling a distance of merely 20km while collecting all the garbage that were reachable, the project came to an end at Adavi kanda, with faces of happiness despite of all the hardships went throughout the day. So at last, the project was a huge success as a result of the great efforts of each and every volunteer.

Written by-

Rtr. Shenuka Ranawaka

Director – Membership  Development 2017-18