SLRMUN 2021 Conference: A Memorable Day

As written by Rtr. Pesala Welangalle,

A long-awaited day finally reached its wonderful conclusion, as the Sri Lanka Rotaract Model United Nations drew to a close on the 3rd of April.

Rotaract Mora Model United Nations, one of the newest initiatives of the IS avenue of Rotaract Mora, culminated in 2 phases with SLRMUN being the final and complete avatar of the project. Open to all delegates in the Rotary District 3220, our conference also featured foreign Rotaractors and a wealth of local talent as heads of the respective committees.

SLRMUN added a new value to the concept of MUN in Sri Lanka, by partnering with Consilium to implement the solutions the delegates come up with. This goes beyond the usual start-stop approach of MUN, by actively working on making a change in the issues discussed.

The grasp of Covid-19 messed our hopes of having a fully physical conference, nevertheless, the thrills of debating on and bringing up solutions to global issues were at their best at SLRMUN, with 40+ delegates tackling timely & relevant global issues, and 10 of them being rewarded for their extraordinary work.

The mighty satisfaction of a project well done was perfectly accentuated by us getting the chance to break the shackles of Zoom and organize the project physically.

The day was strewn with tasks for all the OC members, ranging from ensuring that delegates turned up, making the debate proceedings run smoothly, the floor managing, PR, video editing, streaming, financing, and everything in between. Everyone worked hard and the tasks were well planned out so that the entire day ran smoothly.

And despite the hectic schedule, I’m sure the entire OC loved every second of it. Though we’ve worked together for a few months, most of us have not met each other in real life, and the chance to finally meet all our ‘virtual’ friends was wonderful.

We also had the time to have an after-party, to get a video of all the OCs together (the struggle to get everyone to pose was real), and to prank a fellow OC; all in all, in retrospect, a really good day. In fact, it was so good that one of the co-chairs got depressed after the crew broke up & had to leave at the end of the day, and is now quite successfully trying to get the Organizing Committee back together to go on an outing soon ; )

For many of us, this was the first opportunity to be a part of a physical project and the experience was unbelievable. The day had a vibe that none of the virtual projects we’ve been part of till then had.

And finally, at the end of the day, we were left with great friends, wonderful memories, and the quiet pride of being part of this wonderful initiative, which would no doubt grow by leaps & bounds over the coming years.

Cheers!