COVID Free Pera

The project COVID Free Pera has been happening for over 6 months in the University of Peradeniya, which houses 12, 000 students. The project managed to turn the university premises which spans over 700 hectares into a COVID controlled environment. The project grew from humble beginnings to an expansive project which contributed in many ways towards Dr. Rohantha's brainchild: the Stop The Spread Initiative. Having started as a part of Rotary's Stop The Spread Initiative in order to further the Rotary vision of a lively society under the new normal, the project soon became the model project to test the initiatives. 

The main objective of the project is making the University of Peradeniya a COVID Controlled Environment and resuming the academic activities even at the time of the pandemic.

This massive project consists of 7 phases and is still on going.

Phase 1:    On-Campus Awareness Workshop

After discussing extensively with the university administration, health center and other relevant personnel, we decided to hold an awareness workshop to educate the university community about the new protocols in place, health guidelines that must be followed when the university started and to get their insight about the pandemic situation and new initiations in place. Students and staff members representing each year of every faculty participated for this workshop. A volunteer group consisting of students and staff members was formed to monitor whether the proper health guidelines are followed by everyone.

Phase 2:    Banner Campaign

At a time the whole community is facing a virus which has no cure, the only way to protect ourselves is to arm ourselves with the proper knowledge. This is why, we as a club decided to display the proper the health guidelines all around the university. 100 banners were displayed at specific places demonstrating the relevant guidelines. 

Phase 3:    Online Awareness Campaign 

Phase 4:    Donation of washbasins

Phase 5:    "Wear a Mask" Challenge

Phase 6:    ABHIPRERANA - Motivational Webinar Series

This was organized in order to motivate and uplift the mentality of students who are engaged in studies during the Covid-19 pandemic period. The webinar series was planned to be conducted in three phases, for school students and for university undergraduates.

As the initial phase, an online motivational webinar for the students who are facing Ordinary level examination was held to strengthen their mentality to face the upcoming examination with confidence. As the guest speaker Mr.Tissa Jananayake, a popular lecturer in Advanced level Biology field, counsellor and motivational speaker conducted the one day webinar for the students.

Mr. Tissa Jananayake spoke about the nature of mind and the brain with the Psychological and Biological facts. Furthermore, he discussed about the emotional well-being and the ways to deal with challenges in life with a strong mentality. He shared some personal experiences with the students to encourage them. Students who participated in this webinar through Zoom, You tube, Face book platforms were very enthusiastic and actively participated throughout the programme. They expressed their ideas, thoughts and presented questions during the webinar. The webinar was held for more than one hour. At the end of the webinar, students were given opportunities to post their questions and ideas to the guest speaker. Many positive feedback were received at the end of the webinar from the students. Also, the students were well motivated and energized after the programme. This helped to conclude the first phase of the project successfully. Students who filled the google form which was shared during the webinar were provided with  e-certificates in appreciation for their participation. 

Phase 7:    Live with COVID

An International Service Initiative to raise awareness about the Global Pandemic COVID-19, its prevention methods and to appreciate the true heroes 👮‍♀️👨‍✈️👩🏻‍⚕️ behind this battle against COVID-19 while giving a chance to think creatively. 

Participants were requested to send their creative submissions under following categories 

•      Videos 📽 
•      Digital Posters 💻 
•      Hand drawn Posters ✍ 
•      Photographs 📸 

 and following themes were given🖋 

      ▪️     Offering tribute to health Officers 

      ▪️     Following Public Health Guidelines

Majority of the participants were from India , Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal and there were also participants from some African countries.