Youth is the Word

Changemakers: Sulakshana Senanayake, Sikander Shabeer, Mohamed Husni, Anoka Abeyratne, Sarah Jameel

The main Highlight of the Project was the formation of the word "YOUTH"

with

1500 people. This was declared a Guinness World Record by official representatives

and aerial pictures were taken by a helicopter. The purpose of the event was to

celebrate International youth day and to inspire more Sri Lankan youth to engage in

volunteerism and activism. This was achieved by the "youth carnival" that was

organized alongside the record breaking with over 8 youth organizations n the

country, namely; National Youth Services Council, Leo Sri Lanka, SLMUN, Rotaract,

Interact, AIESEC, IYV+10 and the Sri Lanka Girl Guides Association. Dignitaries

including the Vice-chancellor of the University of Colombo, a Member of Parliament

and UN officials were honored guests at the event. The challenges faced were mainly

gathering such a number of people within NINE DAYS and we had utilize every

possible contact we had, social media and a large print and electronic media strategy.

This was done by making partnerships with youth organizations, social media such as

Facebook and twitter and also by giving away media sponsorship of the event to local

media giants. Apart from the obvious Guinness world record we achieved in the name

of the Sri Lankan youth, we were able to change the mindframes of many youth as

well as adults all around the country about the power youth possess and the benefits of

volunteering and activism.