Action for nature, passion for people
View(s):Commonwealth Youth Award winner Anoka Abeyrathne is an individual out to change the world, but her first steps will always be firmly rooted to Sri Lanka
By Shaveen Jeewandara, Pic: Indika Handuwela
Becoming a vet was an ambition that always lingered in her mind, but things didn’t quite string together. That’s when she took lease of the situation and concocted grander dreams of her own – dreams that would one day see Sri Lanka being a forerunner in fighting climate change with an empowered set of young individuals. Anoka Abeyrathne, 22, has since taken huge leaps in achieving her dreams, winning due recognition for her work – with the most recent achievement being the ‘Commonwealth Youth Award for Excellence in Development Work 2012’.
Anoka Abeyrathne
The soft spoken 22 –year –old youth ambassador does not hold back on the emotions of accomplishment in her latest feat, “It is a massive honour and a great boost of confidence to know that you can reach greater heights”, she tells us.
The Commonwealth Youth Awards ceremony organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat and Commonwealth Youth Programme, held last month at the Marlborough house in London, saw Anoka becoming the youngest amongst the four award winners of the night.
“The awards centre on bringing positive change into the lives of the underprivileged and my project aimed at empowering the youth from around the Bolgoda lake on sustainable eco-tourism. Whilst giving them skills in computing and increasing their employability”, she mentions. Anoka adds that the best way to get communities involved in sustainable projects is to empower them. Four young development workers, including Anoka, were awarded £14,000 between them for their projects. “Queen Elizabeth II was the patron of the Commonwealth Youth Awards and we got to meet her in person, that is an achievement of a lifetime and it motivates me to reach greater heights, every step of the way”.
Anoka has been a passionate volunteer for a long time running, having started as early as 14. She saw the destruction of the Bolgoda Lake and how much of an impact it had on the resident species, especially the migratory birds in the vicinity. This spurred her work on a mangrove replanting project which grew exponentially seeing over 12000 mangrove trees being planted.
The community cannot sustain. “Our ultimatum is to create a self-sufficient society and not just one that longs for external support at every obstacle down the way”. The villages in Indibedda were the first to come under their umbrella and today sustainable eco-tourism booms in these regions.
Anoka was a British Council global change-maker in 2011, which she recalls as an immensely satisfying experience. “It’s a global youth network of social entrepreneurs. They catalyse positive social change by providing them with skills, contacts, opportunities and a community of like-minded people pursuing the same goals. I became part of first in 2011 as a social entrepreneur tying environmental protection with sustainable development. I was also a peer facilitator and mentor to new change-makers in 2012 which included a European Parliament segment in Belgium”, she tells us.
Earlier in 2012, Anoka was privileged to become enlisted as one out of twenty-five most influential young people in the world by the Huffington Post. “I was nominated and selected for the list by Huffington Post as it was they who compiled the list with the Youth Services America. The list was due to our methods of using technology along with hands on work to create the best possible positive change”, she mentions. The list recognises 25 young people around the world that have made significant, large-scale change in five categories – Health, Education, Human Service, Human Rights, and the Environment.
Anoka was also part of the team that created the video “Make It Green Again” that showcased Sri Lankan youth taking the forefront in protecting our environment. “The video was made entirely in Sri Lanka within 2 days because we wanted to launch it at the UNFCCC COP17 Conference in South Africa. It was made with the collaboration of Make it Green Again and EarthLanka. It was to create a sense of awareness regarding the natural resources we already have and to work towards the protection of it. We also had the first youth led side event at the Conference where we launched the video to showcase Sri Lanka and the potential of young people.”
“Why do we have to spend the nest time of our lives abroad, when we can stay back and do so much for Sri Lanka?” she questions. Anoka Abeyrathne is a daring young individual who’s out to change the world, but the first steps will always be firmly rooted to Sri Lanka.
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