We all have that moment of weakness where everything seems to come to an end and the world that was once bright seems to desolate and akin to an endless abyss. To enlighten the public about Suicides, Rotaract Club of University of Colombo, Faculty of Management and Finance, initiated project ‘HOPE’. This project was conducted in the form of a social media campaign by sharing a series of videos and posters.
On the 4th of September a short video with the message ‘Creating Hope through Action’ was shared for the souls in need to kick start this online campaign while going parallel with the 2021 international theme to commemorate the World Suicide Prevention Day observed on September 10th.
The second video featured Avicii, a well-known artist who committed suicide where his life story was shared briefly and concluded with his last words ‘One day you’ll leave this world behind, so live a life you will remember’. This accentuated that fame comes with a price and even the most successful people are silently struggling. Then what can we say about us?
Next, a post was published highlighting the Reasons for Suicide. The most common reason being mental illness along with other problems such as bullying, drug abuse, gender-based problems, sufferings from poverty and relationship problems etc.
Did you know that four out of five people who commit suicide have attempted to kill themselves at least once previously? Hence, being aware of your close ones’ behaviour and mental changes can help saving a life.
The most painful experience we can possibly undergo is when someone dear to us commits suicide knowing we could have helped them. The next post was to address a series of actions to undertake when a person is planning to hurt themselves and to be a beacon of hope to a life filled with dark clouds.
‘No one is a waste of space, every life matters’ was the theme of the next post which served as a reminder for some valuable facts to trigger, say and do for self-awareness as well as for saving a life.
On September 9th a video following the theme “Let’s be brave today” was shared with suicide prevention advice WAIT and ABC. This was mainly focused on coping with suicidal thoughts for oneself.
Finally, the project “Hope” which spanned over a week marked its end with a video where various Rotaractors expressed their thoughts on the topic ‘Suicide’.
