Kiwanis Club of Colombo celebrates silver anniversary

Twenty-five years ago, in October 1982, a new word entered the Sri Lankan vocabulary-’Kiwanis’. An American Indian phrase meaning “We make a noise,” or “We trade,” or “We have a good time,” Kiwanis is also the name of an international organisation of service clubs whose motto is “Serving the Children of the World.”

The Daily Mirror, in an article published on 21 October, had announced the formation of the Kiwanis Club of Colombo City.

Twenty local businessmen, headed by Onally Gulamhusein, had taken up the proposal of the American ambassador at the time, Mr. John H. Reed, that Sri Lankans launch a Kiwanis Club sponsored by his own Kiwanis Club of Springfield, Virginia.

Raj Kumar Jajodia of New Delhi, the accredited representative of Kiwanis International for the region, was invited especially to preside over the first meeting. Sri Lanka thus became the 76th country to join the international family of Kiwanis.

Kiwanis Club of Colombo City members that year launched a project to establish, equip, and maintain an Intensive Care Unit at the Lady Ridgeway Hospital in Colombo over a period of 12 years at a cost of over Rs. 21 million-a very considerable sum in those days.

Other Kiwanis projects over the years have equipped hospitals in Colombo, Chilaw, Anuradhapura and Kurunegala to treat children with conditions such as thalassemia, cleft palate, hearing impairment, as well as children requiring artificial limbs.

Responding to the tsunami, the Kiwanis Club with help from other Kiwanis clubs around the world has built homes in Galle and Kalutara districts at a cost of nearly Rs. 30 million, and rebuilt and furnished a pre-school in Hambantota District, among other projects.

The Kiwanis Visions of Hope Project in Ampara District is an ongoing project to rehabilitate 75 tsunami affected children of Pandiruppu ages 4-14 in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Children’s Trust, Knorr-Bremse Global Care, and Kiwanis Club of Moncton, Canada. The project is slated to continue until all the children attain school leaving age.

On Friday October 19, Kiwanis members past and present will celebrate their club’s silver anniversary, highlighting their achievements over the past quarter century and felicitating their Founder President Onally Gulamhusein and other members who have completed 25 years of service.

Founded in Detroit, Michigan, USA, in 1915 by a group of businessmen, today the Kiwanis International family has over 600,000 members in more than 13,000 clubs. Kiwanis clubs now serve in 96 countries to achieve what individuals working alone cannot do.

Through Kiwanis membership and service, communities are improved, friendships are built, leadership skills are developed, and business contacts are made. More importantly, the lives of children are changed for the better.