Board Outing

Friends became Family!

The calm Maa Oya was glittered with the sunshine as if it was an indication of the perfect outing we were about to spend. July 13th weekend was indeed a glittered day in the SLIIT Rotaract Diary as it was our first board outing. Our Club Service Director, Rtr. Senuri arose with the perfect place for the club outing: Nature’s Hideout, Meerigama. As we were informed earlier, the aim of the outing was to discuss the year plan, spend time on the banks of the Maa Oya and then end it with a BBQ eve. However, our president and the Sergeant at arms have had a separate plan of action for the day!

We were able to reach the place by 11.00 a.m. and soon after we got down, we were given instructions to eschew from our belongings including the mobile phones! It led the path for a brilliant ice break session. The three vice presidents were appointed as the team leaders and the rest of us were chosen for the teams by them. The Sergeant at arms read out the instructions for the entire session in which included a special condition where we were not allowed to communicate with the members of other teams. The first task was to find names for the teams. So the three groups sprang with the names “Oompa-Loompas”, “Kokis” and “Point Breakers”.

After the welcome drink, the next task was to take a “crazy pose picture”. The team Kokis was able to take the “craziest” picture of the day.

Then the third challenge was to create hakas for each teams and among all three creative hakas, Oompa-loompas were able to secure the title for the best haka.

Then, crossing “the Lava Lake” was the major challenge to every team. Selecting which group to make it at the last was another challenge as one member per each team had to drink a cup of salt and pepper made by the Sergeant at arms. The first to finish the drink were given the chance to cross the lake last as they could secure the benefit of examining utilizing the techniques of other two teams.

Crossing the Lava Lake supported us to build our team work skills, patience, vigilance and agility. Even though the team Oompa-Loompa was the first to take the challenge (last to finish the salt and pepper drink), it was able to finish the task within least time.

After this, we received another task from the never-ending task list of our president. It was to sing a song in a different melody than its usual. The teams were given eight minutes to complete this task and all three teams displayed their creativity and time management skills, confirming the club has the ideal Board of Directors. The team Point Breakers was able to become the best in this task.

The last challenge of the session was to take picture by forming a symbol. The team Kokis formed the letters ”RTR”; Oompa-loompas formed two hearts and the point breakers formed the symbol of peace. Team Kokis became the winners of this challenge. Throughout the day, our Sergeant at arms, Rtr. Dhakshan was keeping his eye on every activity we engaged in and as a result Oompa-loompas lost points for communicating with other teams.

Until the finalization of scores, we were privileged to enjoy the musical talent of Rtr. Dhakshan at the request of our beloved IPP Rtr. Sethil Muhandiram. The finalized scores revealed that the team Kokis has become the most outstanding team of the day. The Point Breakers; since they became the second runners up of the day had to let the winners to break eggs on them!

The adventure episode had more to go. After a very delightful lunch, we were headed to the banks of the Maa Oya. The environment was cool and the river was calm. We were allowed to have a bath under the tight observance of our IPP Rtr. Sethil. After two hours of pleasant aqua eve we then dashed to have a cup of tea.

Next was the prominent session of the day: the year plan. IPP Rtr. Sethil, the president Rtr. Duleesha and the three vice presidents chaired the gathering in which we discussed the innovative ideas and project plans for the year. A while after, the good smell conveyed us the message that it was the time for BBQ. Rtr. Thusara, Rtr. Dhakshan and the team proved that the town’s best BBQ are made by them. Making memories for a life time, we left the premises at 9.30 p.m.