The American University of Nigeria is now the official holder of
the Guinness World Record for the most people crocheting simultaneously. The
GWR Records Management Team announced the feat in a message posted online.
On August 24, 2015, an unprecedented group of
485 people recorded 20 minutes of simultaneous crocheting, a bid to beat a New
York City group of 426 who crocheted simultaneously for 15 minutes in 2010.
The group needlework, an effort sponsored by
AUN’s Student Government Association, was planned to coincide with Earth Day,
to sensitize residents of Yola–the Adamawa State capital and seat of AUN–about
the hazards of non-biodegradable litter.
Held inside the University’s Commencement
Hall, the largest indoor venue in Nigeria’s northeast, the ecological twist to
the event was that the crocheters used “plarn.” Plarn is a yarn that has been
developed from used shopping bags which litter the countryside.
Since every nylon bag is reusable and
renewable, the event drew attention to how cleaning up the environment can be
sustainable and profitable.
Community women members of Yola EcoSentials, a
group of social entrepreneurs promoted by AUN, walked the participants through
the process before the kickoff of the simultaneous crocheting. The event served
to publicize the University’s ‘waste to wealth’ initiative.
“In the light of negative news coming from the
northeast, whenever the story of tenacity and togetherness is told, your
achievement today will be a reference. This is what your sense of togetherness,
teamwork, and can-do-it spirit has made possible,” said the Chief Information
Officer, AVP Julius Ayuk Tabe.
-Premium Times
No comments:
Post a Comment