Reach for Water '19 - Donation of the Water Filter + Rotaract Road Trip

Hey there fellow Rotaractors,

It's your Editor here. And I have some very interesting news for you...

As you all may know, the final phase of our most prominent project, Reach for Water concluded just a few weeks ago. We donated a Reverse Osmosis Water Purification System to a village in the North Central Province, which has been suffering from Kidney Related Diseases forever. Since the journey to this village takes the whole day, we decided make it a small Road Trip and so many of our beloved members joined us. But what you do not know is how one of our members found himself a secret admirer from the Road Trip. Keep reading till the end to find out what really happened!

REACH FOR WATER is the signature project of Rotaract Club of University of Peradeniya, conducted under the Community Service Avenue; focused on finding a solution for a national level health issue, which is Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Origin (commonly known as CKDU). Most of the people living in North Central Province are suffering from kidney related diseases and it has been identified that the main reason for this is not having access to clean water. There had been a few projects carried out in Sri Lanka where a water filter was installed to purify the water. But they were not able to cultivate maximum result out of it because the filters stopped working after some time. Therefore, after receiving advice from many professionals we decided to install a water filter which will last for a longer duration.

A project of this magnitude, requires the assistance of many of our Club members and careful planning for a long period of time. The project usually consists of two phases. Phase 1 is the Charity Run followed by an entertainment show attended by a number of well renowned artists. Phase 2 is the Donation of the Water Filter. The sole purpose of arranging a charity run like this is to collect the necessary funds needed to purchase the water purification system. Since the initiation of the project in 2017, we have been able to complete this project successfully three times in a row now.

Funky Dirt at Reach for Water Charity Run

Aqua Masters Pvt Ltd is a company registered in Sri Lanka under act No 17 of 2007. Main business activities of the company are importing & distributing OGA Brand Reverse Osmosis Water Purification Systems, covering all provinces in the Island. The company has built its own technical team for after sales services headed by a qualified engineer. Water filters purchased from this company were installed in the following locations.

o   2018 - Sadagalpaya Rajamaha Viharaya, Kekirawa

o   2019 - Galmuna Devisional Hospital

o   2020 - Aralaganwila, Galeliya – D3 Area

The donation of the water filter under Reach for Water – 2019 took place on the 6^th of September, 2020. The Chief Thero of the village, the President of the Farmers’ Society of the village, the President of the Club, Rtr. Ravindu Seneviratne. IPP Rtr. Lahiru Dissanayake, President of the term 2018/2019 Rtr. Tharindu Pinnaduwage, Secretary of the term 2018/2019 Rtr. Chathurangi Edissuriya, Chair persons of the project, Rtr, Janith Udara and Rtr. Supun Vindula and many other members of the Club participated for this occasion.

The special thing about Rotaract Club of University of Peradeniya is, we value our fellowship above everything. It is the foundation of our Club and the reason behind our success. Our members are our beating heart and the bond between us is extremely strong. Even with lectures at 8:00 AM the next day, our members still insisted on joining for this great cause knowing very well it will be well past midnight when we come back to the campus. Therefore, we decided to turn this into a small road trip. 

The Galeliya village is a beautiful village situated far away in the North Central Province. But the most alluring thing about this village is its people. From children to elders, everyone came to greet us. They had even prepared a very nice treat for us even though we urged them not to do so. We spent a few hours in the village walking and talking with all the villagers. One of our members even found himself a secret admirer there. She is a sweet little girl from the village. She followed him everywhere. But the thing is, he was interested in someone else of the village. This sweet girl got very jealous when she found that out. We really hope we will get to see them again.

That's it for today everyone.

Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

See you later with more exciting news!