This is an unprecedented time period for each and everyone of the community as the whole globe is affected by a devastating pandemic fearfully. We’ve got trapped in the places where we live currently without hearing the cheerful laughter of our loved ones while missing the numerous fun filled moments that we spent with our peers at the university. It is evident that it made us all despondents as we did miss those joyous events in our lives. To mould our creativity through self-awareness and to delight our depressed moods as a solace in solitude, our very own Rotaractors have done something extra ordinary; the project ‘Avoidelta’.
‘Avoidelta’, a four phased project organized by the Member Relations Avenue of the Rotaract Club of University of Kelaniya has embellished the current pessimism into a sophisticated optimism. So what is Avoidelta? How did it influence our mood? The first phase of Avoidelta is a selfie contest packed with innovativeness and creativity which we’ve never seen or heard of before. Photography has an outstanding capability to make a lasting memory of what we experience in our lives. The directors of the Member Relations Avenue, Rtr.Gimhan Rupasinghe and Rtr.Nipuna Rathnayake along with the Co –Chairs, Rtr.Hashan Koonara and Rtr.Anjalee Dilrukshi and a tremendously supportive organizing committee have made the photography into another level creativity through a selfie contest. The competition was to take a selfie in an impressive way and upload it to the social media platforms. The contest created a hype and gained much popularity among everyone including Rotaractors and non-Rotaractors.
Two weeks after the announcement about the selfie contest, the most anticipated second phase of Avoidelta was held on the 26th of September at 6.30 pm onwards via zoom with over 470 participants and facebook live with 700+ views. The grand finale of the avoidelta selfie contest was elevated by the honourable presence of the guest invitees ,Rtn.Rtr.PP Akhila Wijetunga, the District Rotaract Representative of Rotary International district 3220 of Sri Lanka and Maldives, Rtr.PP Sathma Jayasinghe, The Assistant District Rotaract Representative of Rotary International district 3220 of Sri Lanka and Maldives and Rtr.IPP Sasitha Sujani Eldeniya, The Joint Director of special projects in Rotary International district 3220 of Sri Lanka and Maldives. These amazing individuals highlighted the importance of mental health and self-awareness through these types of creative contests which gained much fame among youngsters and appreciated the club for creating an impactful output at the completion of the project.
It was a great pleasure to see five young star artists as it freshened up the event more. Ashka Kulathunga, Harith Wijeratne, Miyuru Somarathna, Sathisha Bhatt, Anarklie Wishwaleka and Sanjana Dissanayake, the young artists from Voice Teen captured the enthusiasm of the audience vividly. The grand finale of Avoidelta was indeed a mesmerizing stage of their amusing vocal appearances and it was clearly a sensational evening to everyone on that day.
During this extravagant evening, an interesting task was given to the audience as well. All they had to do was to take a selfie while watching the event and upload it into their social media stories. Nimsara Fernando and Rashmitha Kakulawala were selected as the winners of this mini selfie contest.
The most exceptional juncture of Avoidelta reached the moment of announcing the winners of the selfie contest by the guest invitee, Mr.Akhila Wijethunga. It was an elation to see who the winners were. Anudi Gunasekara was the winner of the most viewed Instagram story category while Thedini Herath was the winner of the most liked Instergram post category. The winner of the most liked Facebook post was Ahamed Zacki and Heshani Chandradasa’s selfie was rewarded as the most viewed Facebook story. The winner of the most liked Facebook profile picture category was Dananjaya Sampath. These contestants were congratulated by the guest invitees.
It is evident that a huge talent and creativity exist behind these self images and young people can inspire the community everyday through their creativity. The Avoidelta selfie contest is one such event which proves the aforementioned factuality.
~ Wrtitten by: Rtr.Sachini Somarathna | Featured image designed by: Rtr. Pramod Eshan ~
