10 young hearts and 10 brilliant ideas

by Ajith
26-Sep-2017

In August 2017, iVoice made a public call to youth around the island to submit their innovative ideas that address a social issue in their community. Over 100 innovative ideas were submitted that ranged from solid waste management to improving reproductive health education in schools, to awareness sessions on gender-based violence. Twenty ideas were shortlisted for the final round.  

The final stage of the competition was an overnight two-day residency workshop in Colombo, which took place commemorating the International Day of Peace. At the residency, the 20 shortlisted participants from around the island came together and were provided the opportunity to further develop their ideas into feasible project plans that can be implemented within a three-month period. As they modeled their ideas on display exhibits, they had the opportunity to engage with the UN Resident Coordinator, Mr. Una McCauley, other professionals from the UN, as well as a visiting youth group from the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) – College East, Singapore.  

On the last day of the workshop, the participants presented their ideas to a judging panel comprising of Ms. Ritsu Nacken – UNFPA Representative, Prof. Wanigasundera – Chairman of SDJF, Mr. Jayan Abeywickrama – UNFPA Programme Analyst, and Mr. Senel Wanniarachchi –  Co-Founder of Hashtag Generation. The ten winners were awarded Rs. 100,000/- each as seed capital to deliver their presented ideas and to actively drive social change.

Following are the ten winners of the Rs. 100,000 seed money to implement their innovative ideas.

(from left to right) 

Sivalingam Vimalraj, 26 years, Jaffna

Having witnessed many children in Jaffna stay home from school or drop out at an early age, Vimalraj was eager to make a change. His idea is to carry out a survey to find the reasons preventing children from getting an education. Using the findings from his survey, he plans to create a short film and share it with relevant stakeholders to drive positive social change in his community and ensure more children get a basic primary and secondary education. 

Sujith Samarasinghe, 21 years, Kalutara

Sujith wants to reduce the deaths and injuries caused due to motorbike accidents in Sri Lanka. His idea is to create a video which will create awareness and educate young people on the safety measures and precautions needed to safely ride motorbikes. Sujith will also share this video via social media platforms, in schools, and with other audiences.

Damith Chandana, 21 years, Kandy

As a young male, Damith has realized that sexual harassment in public transport is a serious issue that affects women, men, children, and their society.  To address this issue, his idea is to create an awareness video to bring about positive behavioural change.

Lakmee Nilanka de Silva, 26 years, Matara

Lakmee’s idea is to promote inclusive education among students, teachers, and parents by producing an entertaining programme titled ‘Yalu Mamage Katandara’ (Uncle’s Friendly Stories). She plans to share this programme widely on social media to create awareness on the importance of quality, inclusive education.

Chamal Malintha Gunasinghe, 18 years, Kalutara

Chamal comes from a rural village in Sri Lanka where it is difficult to effectively share important social messages and information among villagers. He has developed an LED signage model, which can be used to communicate messages with the people in his community with less environmental waste. His idea is to use these LED boards to drive social change.

Dinithi Prathiba Kaluarachchi, 23 years, Ratnapura

As a student of Ruhunu University, Dinithi experienced first-hand the negative consequences of misappropriate Facebook use among her peers. She wants to create awareness among students the students at her university about the proper use of Facebook and how to be responsible, safe, and private online.

Piyahasie Dias, 19 years, Colombo

Having seen her father struggle with a hearing disability, Piyahasie was adamant to make a difference for others living with the same conditions. With her ability to communicate in sign language, her idea is to create a sign language grammar book for hearing impaired students.

Rifak Ahmed, 26 years, Galle 

As a student of chemical engineering, Rifak learned about sustainable energy and saw the potential of producing bio gas from kitchen waste. His idea is to introduce a small bio gas unit in urban areas, so that waste can be re-used in an effective manner.

Arzath Areef, 25 years, Ampara

Waste management is a serious issue in Sainthamaruthu, in the East of Sri Lanka. The municipal council does not have sufficient resources to ensure proper waste management. Arzath’s idea is to create a citizen mobile app to assist in ensuring better solid waste management by tracking the locations of waste and the movements of the waste management trucks.

Nalinda Priyanjith Silva, 26 years, Colombo

Nalinda has created a mosquito trap made using locally sourced raw materials. His idea is to reduce the number of deaths caused by mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue, by training more youth on how to produce these mosquito traps.

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