South Asian Youth Conference
The 5th South Asian Youth Conference, concluded successfully at the Horizon Campus, Malabe, Colombo – Sri Lanka on 15th December 2015. SAYC 2015 brought together 77 participants from 8 South Asian countries and 3 observer countries for a diverse cultural experience and to deepen the understanding of South Asian issues.
On 11th December 2015, Opening Ceremony was hosted at the Disaster Management Center, Colombo. Starting with the lighting of traditional oil lamp, the Ceremony was addressed by the Chief Guest, Former President of Sri Lanka, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, guest of
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South Asian Youth Conference
honour, Upul Dharanagama, Chairman, Horizon Campus and Dunesh Gankanda, Deputy Minister for Disaster Management
Hon’ble Chief Guest Chandrika Bandaranaike
Abhishek Thakore, SAYC Founder
Guest of Honour, Upul Dharanagama
Huma Haque, Associate Director, SAC-AC
Organising Chairman Tharindu Abeyrathna, Joint Chairman Sachintha Abeysuriya, SAYC series founder Abhishek Thakore, and SAYC 2015 Co-organiser Huma Haque (Associate Director, SACAtlantic Council) also expressed their hopes and objectives for the SAYC 2015. Apart from addresses by Chief Guests and organizers, the opening ceremony was peppered with Sri Lankan cultural dance Kandiyan and video introductions.
Kandiyan Dance of Sri Lanka
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South Asian Youth Conference
There were 3 thematic days with youth and South Asia as the focus: ‘Art, culture and peace’, ‘Gender and its interpretations in South Asian context’ and ‘Abundance, Leadership and Entrepreneurship’. All days started with morning reflection and expectation setting followed by panel discussions and workshops with experts. Each panel discussion invited experts from diverse backgrounds to bring in various perspectives on any idea.
Panel Discussion on Art, Culture and Peace From left to right: Abhishek Thakore(moderator), Prof Jagath Weerasinghe, Mr Chaminda Rajakaruna and actor Saumya Liyanage
Workshop by Actor Saumya Liyanage
Panel discussion on Leadership and Entreprenership From left to right: Tharindu Abeyrathna(Moderator), Fatthi Mohammed (founder, Pick Me), Amanda Kiessel, (Sewalanka Foundation), Akshat Singhal(Founder, BRM)
Workshop by Abhishek Thakore
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South Asian Youth Conference
Everyday after lunch, unconference sessions invited participants to conduct sessions and workshops on topics they are working on or are passionate about. Unconference time saw workshops like Digital Detoxification, Reflect Thyself, Alternative Education, Gender Bender, Pay it forward, Relead Marketplace, art sessions, movie screenings, and much more. Each day also invited participants to express themselves through art and play games. Flexibility in program design facilitated city tours for those participants willing to explore the beautiful city of Colombo, and buy souvenirs for friends back home.
Unconference sessions involved participant driven discussions, workshops and art sessions.
All the participants were divided in families of 10-15 led by a family leader. Each night after dinner, families could share how the day was, what they liked the most, etc. Each day, family time eventually turned into music jam and singing sessions. Family time often continued till late night in form of passionate debates on politics, culture, justice, arts and politically incorrect discussions.
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South Asian Youth Conference
The penultimate day, and last evening of the conference was much anticipated cultural night. Participants taking time out during the busy conference schedule prepared an elaborate cultural night within 3 days with traditional songs, dance and music from various parts of South Asia. The cultural night was to many people, reliving their college days with competitions like Mr South Asia and Ms South Asia. The cultural night was followed by typical Sri Lankan Kotthu dinner.
From Bollywood songs to Afghan, Nepali and Sri Lankan traditional dances, cultural night brought out the rich traditional and contemporary cultures of South Asia.
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South Asian Youth Conference
On 15th December, the last day of conference was closing ceremony, which gave an opportunity to all the organizers, volunteers, partners and participants to thank each other for the amazing
experience that SAYC 2015 was. It started with one last family time, followed by reflecting on last 4 days of SAYC 2015, a round of eye contact and hugging. Delegates from all South Asian countries sang their respective national anthems. It was heartening to see the delegates learning other national anthems in the course of 3 days and singing along. The closing ceremony gave all the organizers an opportunity to share their experience of organizing SAYC 2015 in Sri Lanka. The conference ended with many new friendships, promises, notes of appreciation, memorable selfies and goodbyes.
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South Asian Youth Conference
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South Asian Youth Conference
SAYC 2015 was generously written about in Srilankan, Indian, Pakistani and International media
SAYC 2015 in Bangladeshi media
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South Asian Youth Conference
The South Asian Youth Conference was jointly organized by the Blue Ribbon Movement and Atlantic Council – South Asia Center. The Sri Lankan organizing team is as follows: BRM Sri Lanka Team 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Tharindu Abeyrathna , Chairperson, SAYC 2015 Sachintha Abeysuriya, Joint Chairperson Yasodhara Kapuge, Conference Coordinator/Secretary Namirah JIffry, Delegate Selections and Support Coordinator Sakuna Gamage, Media and Marketing Coordinator Pranavan Yagasabapathipillai, Sponsorhip Coordinator
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BRM India Team Abhishek Thakore, facilitator and founder, SAYC series Akshat Singhal, co-founder, BRM Vaibhav Mathur, selections facilitator and co-founder, SAYC series Aviral Mittal, Coordinator, SAYC 2015 Organisers
Conference Partners
Airline Partners
Campus Partners
Outreach Partners
Photo and Print Partners
Freestyle Youth Partners
Implementation Partners
Media Partners
www.brmworld.org
www.saycentral.org
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