After studying abroad as I returned to my hometown Yeghegnadzor, I felt that something was missing in the lives of people. The town was covered in a grey silhouette. Neighbors, friends, and even young people looked unenthusiastic and their overall outlook on life was negative. It seemed that people had stopped believing in their wishes.
I was thinking of ways to awaken the dreams of people. So, I thought of the most inspiring and fulfilling moment I have had, and remembered last New Year’s Eve at this small town in Mexico. At midnight everyone in the town gathered at the center and released a sky lantern. It was marvelous when the sky lit up with hundreds of lanterns at the distance. As my boyfriend and I released our lantern, we both wished we would spend the next New Year together, as we live in different countries. Now I want to share this awesome feeling with everyone in my hometown.
The project I propose consists of three steps: making sky lanterns, releasing them and following up with people’s wishes. For making the lanterns, I propose to organize a workshop at the local high school where our team will teach high school students and anyone else interested to make their sky lantern with a personal wish on each of them. We are aiming for 100 participants and we will have 10 volunteers to teach 10 students each. On New Year’s Eve, everyone will gather at the town center and release the lanterns into the air. It is an invaluable moment to see your lantern with your wish reach for the sky. We will also provide Christmas music and small presents for kids. Lastly, we will follow up with people on their progress in accomplishing their dream and we will publish inspiring stories of people having their dreams come true and share experiences in the blog we have set up.
Through this project, I hope that the people of my hometown believe in their dreams again and accomplish them, just how I accomplished mine with my boyfriend spending this New Year together in Armenia.