NIGHT WATCH 2K16

Most of us go through life looking straight ahead. But when we reach some point, the stress we gain from it can tear us down. So it is good for us to stop once in a while and look up, because you’ve got to look up to see stars. The magical scenery they create will surely sooth all your pain and stress and then it will allow you to relax, enjoy and get amused by the little things in life that you didn’t see earlier.   In order to get away from the busy stressful lives, four outstanding Leo clubs of 306A2 Leo Club of University of Moratuwa, Leo Club of Godigamuwa, Leo Club of Katuwawala and Leo Club of Sri Lanka Technological Campus together with the Astronomical Association of University of Moratuwa and the Subhodi Institute, Piliyandala organized a stargazing camp “NIGHT WATCH 2K16” presenting a new experience to all the Leos of Sri Lanka.  It was a Night Sky Observation Camp and an Astronomy Workshop held on 12th of November at Remuna Vidyalaya, Horana from 6PM onwards. Many Leos who are curious about mysteries of the universe and love stargazing took part in this amazing event.

Even though we gathered to admire the beauty of the night sky, she concealed her beauty with heavy showers like a pretty princess hides her beauty with pride. But the organizers did not let her ruin the whole unforgettable cosmic experience which was planned to go till sunrise. First Astronomical Association of University of Moratuwa gave a basic idea on astronomy which gave everyone a light to follow the stargazing path. The telescope which was brought by the Subhodi Institute, Piliyandala was the most exciting thing in this whole event. They explained every part of the telescope, how to focus it and how to use it. Although we could not see the stars the organizers made it sure to make it an unforgettable memory for every Leo who participated. So the NIGHT WATCH for the year 2016 ended with style. 

Surakimu Mawuwaru

Taking care of the elders is considered as a mark of honor to them. Every mother has done a great sacrifice to create this society to this extent. Therefore, it is our responsibility to take care of them as they took care of us when we were children. However, there are some old people who are put in elder care homes and forgotten by their children. Our aim of this project was to help them as much as possible to forget their pain and loneliness and be happy even for a moment.

Surakimu Mawuwaru Elder Care Foundation is one such place. This time we visited them on 29th of October 2016. In order to make the event a success we distributed the workload among each other. As a result, we prepared the evening tea for them, cleaned the place and elders properly, distributed the donations among elders and donated the books to the coordinator of the elders’ home as decided before. Everything was done on time according to the pre-defined schedule. While working we had a chat with those elder mothers and it gave them a chance to express their feelings and erase even a little
bit of their loneliness. 

This program was successfully conducted with the help of our club members, prospects, some university students and the coordinator of the elders’ home. All of us were happy after this project   as we had done a great service. The main objective of this project was to make those elder mothers happy even for little moment. At the end the success of our project was depicted by their happy faces.

TRAIL SRI LANKA

Suffering do not rely on race, religion or cast. They are common for all human beings. If we have a chance to fight against them or if we can help someone to get thorough those sufferings, we will receive the true meaning of happiness. 

TRAIL, Sri Lanka’s largest ever crowd-funded charitable initiative was started under the intention of constructing the nation’s second specialized cancer hospital. The founders for this fund raising campaign were Sarinda Unamboowe and Nathan Sivagananathan. On 2011 they laid the foundation for this initiative. They first thought of constructing a hospital in Jaffna after raising around Rs.401 million. Then the project was set to resume again with the announcement of “Walk, Unite, Heal” in October 2016 with the new goal of raising Rs.772.95 million to build a dedicated cancer treatment facility as an expansion of the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital in Galle. A 670 km walk from Point Pedro to Point Dondra was commenced on 6th of October in order to gather funds.

UoM Leos were blessed to join in this campaign of humanity, on 26th of October 2016. We were able to join the walk from Maliban Junction and trailed to Moratuwa town with them. Funds collected by us from the university colleagues and others were donated on the day to the pioneers. It was another new experience for the UoM Leos as they were able to contribute to a large scale charity project which touches the hearts of everyone.

API AKURATA MALI NOWEMU

Knowledge is a wealth increasing continuously when keeps on giving out education. God gives something to us in order to share it out with others and see happy on. So when such chances are met, we don’t neglect it to do our duty there. That is the principle of life for pleasant survival.

Such golden opportunity we had on 17^th Oct 2016 at Phase VII of Api Akurata Meli Nowemu. 

 This is a students educating session at Batemulla National College.We as a group of Leos and prospects visited there and mixed-up with the students for encouraging on their path of education. Big portion of the day is spent with them effectively by teaching some necessary areas explaining important concepts, clarifying doubts and guide them to approach questions. 

There, we worked in spread-out manner to face all students.

 Children are on more important phase of life growth and every society have the great responsible to fertilize them. Here, our Leo club helps us to carry-out such responsibilities of us. And we completed it with great pleasure.

Evening with Elders

With the dawn of the centennial era, we got an opportunity to reach another milestone of the UoM Leo history. We launched the very first international twinning project, “You Smile, We Smile”, joining with the Leo Club of Butwal Manimukunda, celebrating the occasion of their first anniversary. On 21st of September, UoM Leos spent the day at the Methodist Elders Home Moratmulla while the Leo Club of Butwal Manimukunda spent the day with differently abled children at Butwal-13, Nepal. 

George Washington Carver once said that, “How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong because, some day in your life you will have been all of these.” Once in life and never again we all will have two supreme characters from whom we learn the true meaning of the words “purest love”. So called are the “Parents”; the amazing selfless creation to this harsh world. There are some people in this world who are just running after money and achievements, without any sense about the true meaning and purpose of life and the greatness behind the small precious things that matters us most in this world, like parents. They might never understand, that they will not be able to reach the climax of their achievements because they lack the heartiest blessings from their parents. Elder care homes have become the roof for the mothers and fathers of these people, to spend the later part of their lonely lives, relieving their blessings to the empty space of their own frozen souls. 

Listening to their sweet stories once they had dreamed to say to their grandchildren, sharing their pain and loneliness and bringing smile to those faces even for a second, might be the best thing that one can do to console those lonely fragile minds. Along with this twinning project UoM Leos were privileged to bring a smile on the faces of such elders at Methodist Elders Home Moratmulla and bring a light to their gloomy lives. We had tea and snacks and a small musical evening with them. They sang with us, danced with us, forgetting all the grievances for a while. We were able to shine their hearts and fill their minds with happiness while on the other way around we were more than happy by knowing that we were the reason behind their happiness and blissful smiles. Finally it was comprehended that it was very much befitting to use 

“YOU SMILE-WE SMILE” as the title for this blissful evening.