Inspire Lab | Impact Projects 2017

We are a group of young women from the very first cohort of Inspire Lab. What is the Inspire Lab: its an year long leadership accelerator program designed and facilitated by Without Borders and funded by the Pan Asia Women’s Association. For the past 8 months, we have been doing some exciting things — we learnt new skills such as web design, theater and even film making! We also got access to some creative tools like Design Thinking and meditation that helped us think about problems in a different way.

We learnt some important lessons on sex education, gender based violence and how we can take action as young leaders within our communities. The sessions were conducted by some incredibly talented teachers from a wide range of fields; some were Sex Education specialists, some were Self-Defense trainers and some were a part of a TV network!

Apart from those workshops, we were also given the training and tools to create an Impact Project. We have been given a mini grant of 20,00 LKR to implement a solution to a problem we’ve seen in our community. The whole of last month; we learnt what goes into planning a project, and here’s our big idea! We have three teams so don’t forget to read till the end. One last thing — we’re telling you our ideas because we need your help to make these ideas become a reality. We’re looking for mentors, donors and anybody who can give us advice or connect us with others who can.

Team Name: Team Power

Project Name: Step into the World

Our Project Idea?

We are Team Power and our experience at the Inspire Lab workshops have shown us that it is important to reach out to those who do not have the same opportunities as everyone else. We were inspired to reach out to children with special needs from the Dalugama area; and conduct a 2 hour session that will help them relax and engage in some creative activities. We want to create a safe space where the workshop participants will all feel equal and able. The children we hope will benefit from this workshop are those who suffer with mental and learning disabilities. We hope to partner with and conduct the session at St. Francis College in Dalugama and reach out to trainers who specialize in this field to facilitate a workshop specific to our vision. We also aim to conduct a short session for the teachers from the college in order to introduce new teaching techniques, games and activities that they could use with their students to improve their creative growth.

How can you help us?

We would greatly appreciate donations; big or small to help fund our workshop!

• Our team travel cost to and from Dalugama
• Stationary for the workshop
• Refreshments for the participants / facilitators
• A small gift for the participants

We plan on providing the children with the best experience we possibly can.

Please do contact us on

Please visit us at the MAS Innovation Space on Foster Lane on 20th or 27th between 9AM to 3PM to ask us any questions or to partner with us for this project.

Team Name: Six Avengers

Project Name: Weerayo Book Donation

Our Project Idea?

We are The Six Avengers team. We recognize that books are an important and great resource that is capable of widening one’s imagination and knowledge. We are passionate to create a chance to experience this first-hand for children who have limited or no access to books. Our project focus is a Book Donation drive, and all the books will be donated by us along with a book rack to create a miniature library to an orphanage that we will hand pick. Our target audience for this project is children below the age of 18. We hope to install a library lending system and to train some of the students to maintain and run the library in an efficient manner. We think this will also be a good opportunity for them to improve their leadership skills. We also want to make sure we give the library a new supply of books at least once in every 3 months through the help of the mentors and trainers we have met through the Inspire Lab. We hope that the children benefiting from this project will be able to find a healthy, happy and growth-inducing escape from their troubles with the provision of books.

How can you help us?

If you are willing and able to donate books for the Weerayo Book Donation; please get in touch with us! We are looking for books that have short stories, novels, translations etc. in Sinhala, English or Tamil. We will be happy to accept books that are used but in good condition.

We also have a donation till at the collection point. This till is our Past Paper Book Fund — and the cash collected in this till will all be in aid to purchase Past Paper books for local O/L students in the chosen orphanage.

Please donate your books at the Weerayo Book Donation on 20th and 27th (Saturdays) between 9.00AM and 3.00PM at the MAS Innovation Space on Foster Lane; to anyone on The Six Avengers.

Team Name: League of Survivors

Project Name: Blood Donation Camp

Our Project Idea?

Our team has chosen to conduct a Blood Donation Camp. While brainstorming ideas, we found out that there is a severe lack in the donation and availability of blood. The need for blood, is much bigger than the availability in the blood bank, and as a result many people suffer. A person who donates blood one time, is able to save three lives with that donation! This inspired us to host a Blood Donation Camp. Our team is working hard on planning this camp, and is currently liaising with the Blood Bank to calculate their need and see how we can help. Information on the camp will be provided as soon as a date is locked down after discussing with the Blood Bank. We also hope to create awareness on the need of blood and the benefits of donating it through this Blood Donation Camp.

How can you help us?

We would greatly appreciate the help of sponsors who are willing to fund this idea through the below avenues;

• Donate at the blood camp — and bring someone with you who is also willing and able
• A sponsor to provide refreshments for donors / facilitators
• Provide a platform for us to invite people to join our Blood Donation Camp and donate their time!

If you’re interested in helping us out, you can either email us on withoutborders95@gmail.com or call +94 77 078 0363