2009-11-27 08:56:33 - When a giant tortoise gets with lost treasure it’s easy to create a Guinness World Record

Dr Wendy Stenberg-Tendys in a recent radio interview was asked, “How did you manage to get 838 participants, mainly school students, to write a proper story in the Guinness World Record challenge, of ‘How Many People to Write a Story in 24 Hours”

“It was a matter of organization, from Melanesian Tours busing in the students from school, to Guy Deroin having drawn 35 marvelous cartoons to illustrate the story, to student teachers from Malapoa Training College assisting the students. On the day it needed to flow like a factory assembly line, with a sentence being completed and written down every 39 seconds

In Port Vila, on the tropical island of Vanuatu in the South Pacific, YouMe Support Foundation staged a

successful Guinness World challenge on 19th November.

When asked if there were any hitches Stenberg-Tendys said “We started at 7.30 in the morning and by 10.00 o’clock it looked as if the challenge was going to fail. We were already 100 students down on our schedule. This was when everyone began pulling together

The passing publics were literally pulled off the street to add a sentence to the continuous scroll. Everyone was determined not to be beaten after three months of hard work.

The challenge was successfully completed at 5.30 p.m., merely 10 hours after commencing. The only Asian Pacific Guinness World Record adjudicator, Chris Sheedy, had anticipated going the full 24 hours to see the completion of the attempt. In his declaration of success, he complemented the organizers, YouMe Support Foundation on their efficiency in preparation.

The challenge embraced the rich and strongly diversified Melanesian, Polynesian and Micronesian, cultures, strongly flavoured with both French and English culture, which makes Vanuatu unique.

The success was made even more remarkable by the fact that many of the students were not only writing in their second or third language, but they dwell in a culture that is very strong in its oral traditions.

The tale of two children and a giant tortoise was fabulously illustrated by a local Ni-Vanuatu artist, Guy Deroin.

French speaking Deroin has spent all his life in Vanuatu, apart from the time he travelled to Noumea for education. His father was French, his mother from the Vanuatu island of Ambae. He is planning a tourist attraction based around his cartoon characters. It is hoped the three characters of the Guinness World Record will find a place in the Cultural Museum, to mark this red letter day.

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Dr Wendy Stenberg-Tendys and her husband are CEO's of YouMe Support Foundation (youmesupport.org) provide high school education grants for children who are without hope. You can help in this really great project by taking a few minutes to check it the Tropical Island Treasure Chest at Win a Resort (winaresort.com) It really will change your life.
Feel free to contact Wendy on admin@youmesupport.org