The UCAANSW 2017/18 Committee kicked off their first event – Christmas BBQ and Family Get Together on 3rd December 2017 at Crebra Pavilion, Rouse Hill Regional Park. The weather was perfect after the stormy rains during the night before. It was great to see more than 120 alumni and those with links to University of Colombo and a few invitees with their families enjoying the festive ambience and the company of each other. The food was delicious and in abundance, varying from Western to Sri Lankan – roast paan, pol sambol, kiribath, chicken and salmon curry were a surprise at the BBQ! Everyone had a real great time singing and dancing to the music provided by mother-daughter duo, Mrs. Himani Fernando & Nilangi Abeywardena and Dr Thushara Gunawardena. All were happy to see the arrival of Santa with jingling bells and singing in the background and kids were thrilled to receive gifts from Santa.

President of UCAANSW, Vijitha Thalpavila, warmly welcomed all and provided a snapshot of events scheduled for 2018. He also encouraged everyone to promote expanding the membership and participating in the events as they provide opportunities to network and raise funds to help projects at the University of Colombo and in our own community. An update on the Scholarship project was presented by Kamali Kannangara who announced reaching a milestone where disbursement of scholarship funds to 30 recipients will start in January 2018 for two years. She also said that the alumni community needs to be pleased about this achievement and further invited and encouraged them to be active stakeholders in this worthy cause. Another important new project initiative to improve the “wellbeing of the students” at the University of Colombo was presented by Himani Kariyawasam. Himani drew attention to the project plan and cordially invited individuals with relevant expertise to join the project team. The vote of thanks was delivered by Anil Amaratunga who thanked all for their generous support and participation for making the event a great success.

Event photos – https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.765538766986048.1073741837.505094636363797&type=1&l=915f65238e