'Water Of Life' - The Work of Rotary Clubs in Sri Lanka - by Dr. Devika Brendon

What Is Rotary? 

Rotary is a philanthropic service organisation that was started in The United States, and has become an international network of individuals from hundreds of countries focused on humanitarian projects which benefit the communities of each Club's country. Its basis is the principle of connecting and relating in a positive and beneficial way to others, both those in need of help, and those who are willing to help. 

Each country in the world is a designated part of a Rotary District. Sri Lanka and The Maldives is part of District 3220. Within each District, Rotary Clubs are formed, in which members from different walks of life meet and form collaborative relationships to formulate and create projects designed to assist sectors of the community; and raise funds to deliver needed goods and services to where they are most needed. There are Rotary Clubs in every major city and town throughout Sri Lanka, and many members of these Clubs form co-operative alliances not only with each other to do joint projects, but with members of Rotary Clubs from Europe, Australia, the U.S.A, the U.K., and Canada. 

The recent global eradication of the crippling illness Polio has been a major achievement, in which Rotary International has played a great part. Many Rotary Projects are centred on providing improved health care, housing, education, vocational training and basic amenities such as clean drinking water to people in both regional and urban areas, who are impeded in their progress in life as a result of financial hardship, ongoing cycles of debilitating lack of professional opportunity, chronic health issues and disabilities. 

What Are Its Goals? 

Rotary aims to make the world a better place, in practical and lasting ways. Through projects, donations and local investment of funds and efforts, Rotarians strive to achieve the better functioning and improved morale of the societies in which they live. 

 Projects are based on community needs and Rotary Clubs and Rotarians maintain close links with their local communities to identify specific community needs. Rotary's Key Areas of Focus are: 

* PEACE AND CONFLICT PREVENTION

* DISEASE PREVENTION AND TREATMENT

* WATER AND SANITATION

* MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH

* BASIC EDUCATION AND LITERACY

* ECONOMIC AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Projects to assist the vulnerable: the ageing and elderly; children and women in need of protection from domestic violence; vocational skills and entrepreneurship training to enable women to achieve financial independence, can all be concurrently engaged in by any Club and its members. 

What Kind Of Work Do Rotarians Do?

Rotarians are, by and large, philanthropic people, which means that they are individuals who, whatever their profession is, and over and above their commitment to their own professional development, all see the bigger picture of humanity, and commit themselves to helping others outside their own immediate family and community circle. 

Many Rotarians see the personal benefit they gain from social service as one of the most enjoyable parts of their participation: they enlarge their vision and experience of life, connect with areas of their own country and the wider world which they had not seen before, and relate to individuals from a diverse range of backgrounds, with a range of ages, religious beliefs and social classes, whose life experiences show the spectrum of the human condition. 

Rotarian service encourages its members to co-operate with each other, and, by the very nature of its focus on collaboration and participation, helps members overcome their initial barriers and limitations in dealing with each other. Junior members are invited to join, and encouraged to speak, and mutual benefit can be seen, and mentoring between generations witnessed, at weekly or fortnightly meetings. 

Continuity & Long-Term Vision

Donations and handouts are short-term in their effects, at best. When natural disasters such as floods or landslides occur, the organisational infrastructure exists to provide assistance; but the lasting value of Rotary activity lies in the abilities of the members, guided by Rotary Club nominated and elected leaders, to create, foster and develop lasting relationships with the communities they assist. 

Rotarians also see the benefit of raising social awareness and fostering philanthropic commitment to social service in the younger generation, and have established groups for school students and young people (Interact and Rotaract) who wish to help others from a young age. Partners of Rotarians can also join a group (The Inner Wheel) to support Rotarian projects. 

Until relatively recently, in Sri Lanka, most Rotarians were male professionals. Now many female members are not only joining and participating in Rotary service, but also attaining leadership positions, becoming Presidents of their Clubs. Sri Lanka in District 3220 recently appointed its first female District Governor, Gowri Rajan, from the Rotary Club of Kandy. 

The Rotary Water Project, 2016 

The Rotary Club of Colombo, the first Rotary Club founded in Sri Lanka, recently in collaboration with members of the Rotary Clubs of Katsuura, Japan, and Nuremburg, Germany, completed the installation of several water filtration units in regional areas of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa, which are currently severely affected by drought.

The entire Water Project, from conception, and logistical planning, fundraising to the successful installation and opening of the Water Units in local schools and temples, took almost one year, and involved many members of the Club. 

The available water in these areas has been contaminated by agro-chemicals, and was hard, metallic-tasting and unpleasant to drink. Yet water is essential for the cleansing of our digestive systems and the healthy functioning of our bodies. The local population (about 10,000 people) of the region showed a high rate of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), which would severely impact their health and their lives and the ability of their communities to function, in the future. 

The installation of the 5 water units in the Anuradhapura area resulted in pure, sweet, fresh, clean, safe-to-drink water being made readily available to all, and it is a perfect example of the practical outcomes and benefits of Rotary Projects such as this. 

Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Colombo left Colombo at 4.30am to reach our destinations in Anuradhapura, in a small but sturdy bus, and visited the communities of all 5 village schools and temples over a day and a half, to attend the official openings and dedications of these Water Units. Travelling through the dry lands around the schools, we fully appreciated the benefit of what our efforts had brought to the people in this area. 

Goodwill, gratitude and affection from the communities benefiting from Rotarian involvement, which result from projects like this, enable long-term engagement between Club members and rural areas for years to come. Several members specialising in education and vocational training have started donating books and newspapers and reading materials to the schools for the benefit of the children, and we are going to plan literacy projects through follow up visits on a regular basis which can widen the local students' contact with English literature and the world outside their regions. 

Water in a dry land is an apt metaphor for the service Rotary aims to achieve. As a character in one of my favourite stories by Ursula Le Guin said: 'You brought me water, when I was dying of thirst. But it was not the water alone that saved me: it was the strength of the hands that gave it'. 

Service helps those who serve become better people. And thus it benefits the giver as well as the receiver.