VISAKHIANS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Extract from the Sunday Times, 24 September, 2000
Teens in business
Ruhanie Perera and Laila Nasry talk to the Young Entrepreneurs of the Year
A president, a board of directors, shareholders, accounts, profits and projects. Sounds like a business in full swing. The only difference is that it is a group of very enthusiastic 18-year-olds who are running the show.
"We were determined to succeed," Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Swendri Weeraratne says with conviction. Having been given the challenge to start and run their own school company, Swendri and her team launched The Cuddles Company and have since tasted sweet success.
Agasti Liyanage and Swendri Weeraratne
Young Entrepreneurs of Year 2000
It was an uphill task but one that they went at with all the grit and determination they possessed. The challenge was greater since it was the first time that their school Visakha Vidyalaya had been associated with the Young
Entrepreneur of Sri Lanka (YESL) programme.
The Cuddles Company initially dealt with stationery items. "We first launched Vesak cards in two designs to be sold within the school," Swendri explained. But as the school also received cards from the nearby temples for sale, it ate into their market. "We had to revise our strategy and sell to those outside school." They then came up with the idea of a millennium card, to be sold both within and outside school. "A competition was held in school to choose the best design and we sold all of the thousand cards pretty easily because most of the big companies bought our cards," Swendri explained.... Full Story
Excerpt from the Sunday Times, 17 September, 2000
YESL second awards ceremony
by Udeshika Dissanayake
The Young Entrepreneur Sri Lanka (YESL) held its second awards ceremony last Tuesday. The program gives school children experience in running a company, from starting to winding up. The awards ceremony held at the BMICH saw awards being presented to students on the basis of the performance of their companies during the past year. YESL Speaking on the basis of judgment the CEO, Premasiri Weliwita said all students were judged on the year's performance of the companies that were incorporated and dissolved in the year 1999.
.....The awards for the Young Entrepreneur of the Year and Most Outstanding Young Entrepreneur-girl was taken by Swendri Weeraratne (Visakha Vidyalaya), while the Most Outstanding Young Entrepreneur in the boys category was awarded to Agasthi Liyanage (Richmond Collage Galle). Upekka Caldera (Visakha Vidyalaya) and Shakila Kumari (Swarnamali Balika Vidyalaya Kandy) were judged the best presidents.
The program enabled us to expose ourselves to run an enterprise at such a tender age and to understand activities of a company from incorporation until the time it is dissolved, The Young Entrepreneur of the year said in her speech at the awards ceremony..... Full Story
Excerpts from an article in the Sunday Times (Sri Lanka) 19 March, 2000
Nilakshi, shines all the way!
In October last year the Director General of UNESCO appointed Nilakshi Parndigmage of Sri Lanka as a Member to the Youth Council of UNESCO, an external UNESCO Advisory Body comprising 30 members. 75% Members are below the age of 30. The mission of the Youth Council is to identify creative visions and constructive means to enhance UNESCO's attention and responses to youth needs and, not least, to encourage Member State to act similarly. The bulk of the Council work would take place through electronic means.
The first meeting for the whole group of the Youth Council was held in Adelaide, Australia from 8-10 March. Nilakshi attended this Council Meeting at the invitation of UNESCO.
Nilakshi is an 18-year-old student of Visakha Vidyalaya, Colombo and has previously attended the World Heritage Youth Forum in Beijing in 1997, the World Youth Roundtable on Youth in Paris also in 1997 and Youth Forum on Cultural Policies and Development in Sweden in March 1998.
Nilakshi raises youth problems in international forum
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