Training programme for Rotaract leaders
For the first time in the newly-carved RID 3192, a residential training programme called Spark was conducted for about 100 incoming Rotaract club and district leaders.
The two-day and one night training event was inaugurated by DG Mahadev Prasad who urged the Rotaractors to “aim for big service projects as Rotaract is the future of Rotary.” Further, he wanted them to be passionate and committed in their action to bring lasting changing in the society.
The two-day training event at Kanakpura, a suburb of Bengaluru, had 14 speaker-cum- interactive sessions and a laughter-yoga therapy session. “We had participants from 25 Rotaract clubs who were trained on different aspects of leadership and made aware of their roles and responsibilities,” said DRR Surya Kiran K. “We had another one-day training session after a month for incoming leaders of 25 other institution-based clubs as they were not elected by then due to college exams interfering with their installation,” he explained.
Addressing the Spark delegates, Kiran said, “we need to have effective collaborations among Rotaract clubs to achieve bigger goals and for taking up impactful projects.” He encouraged the clubs to take up global grant projects, “for which you can partner with your parent Rotary to identify their focus area for grant application.”
Calling for Rotaractors to see Rotaract as an organisation for “holistic growth rather than just a charity group,” Kiran motivated them to come out with innovative ideas for doing service projects and community activity. With 1,268 members across 50 Rotaract clubs, the DRR wanted to add at least 800 new Rotaractors, “so that our headcount crosses 2,000 numbers.”
In November, he is planning to conduct Prathiba, a cultural festival for government school students in and around Bengaluru. “We expect to have at least 1,500 students from Class 5–10 at the festival which will showcase their diverse talent, thus boosting their creativity,” said Kiran.
He runs a digital marketing business, and being a dual member in both Rotary and Rotaract Clubs of Bangalore West, this 27-year-old entrepreneur has been a Rotaractor for eight years. Having joined the Rotary family as an Interactor in 2015, “I really enjoy doing both Rotary and Rotaract projects.” While crystal ball gazing is difficult, but 10 years down the line, “I will definitely be doing Rotary projects that are 10 times bigger in size than what I do now,” he smiles.
