Guwahati, January 29, 2024: The grand finale and prize distribution ceremony of the Rural Talent Hunt (RTH) programme, organised by Raindrops Foundation was organised at Goroimari in Kamrup Rural District on Sunday. The programme was sponsored by Stars of North East India and supported by CareerGrad Global. Trustees of Raindrops Foundation viz. Sadiqul Islam, Abdul Aziz, Zahidul Islam, and Umar Farooque in addition to Matin Ahmed, Telecom Engineer; Ahad Ali, Govt Teacher; and Dipak Kalita, Child Marriage Act Activist were present on the occasion.
The event on Sunday consisted of the final rounds of the quiz, debate, dance, and fashion show competitions and performance by the prize winners of dance and other talent competitions of RTH. Nekibur Zaman, Wasbir Jahan, and Samina Parbin emerged as the three best debaters while Kismat Ali-Jiyaur Rahman-Shahar Ali & Nekibur Zaman-Arshad Ai-Monir Ahmed were the best and second-best teams in the quiz competition. Kankana Kalita was adjudged best dancer while Aklima Aktar bagged the second place. In fashion show, the winner was Mridula Parbin and runner up Diluwara Parbin.
Stars of North East India (SONEI) is a decade-old public charitable trust that is engaged in unearthing and honing talents among the local youth. SONEI has been organising a rural inter school debate competition at Goroimari for last several years. It had also sponsored the first talent hunt programme organised by Raindrops Foundation in 2018. It has plans to start more youth empowerment programmes in the area in collaboration with Raindrops Foundation.
On the sidelines of the RTH event, three outstanding members of SONEI were honoured with SONEI commendation plaques. The recipients were Aman Wadud (for receiving Fulbright-Nehru Masters Fellowship for study in University of Texas, USA), Gulam Sarowar Hussain (for success in APSC-Assam Civil Service Examination 2020), and Iftikar Hussain Siddique (for bagging Inlaks-Shivdasani Fellowship 2023 for legal empowerment activism). The commendations were handed over by Sharique Hussain, Suaid Laskar, and Sheikh Riyajul Islam respectively. Other SONEI members who were present on the occasion included Salma Hussain and Babiba Sultana.
Dikshita Das, representing CareerGrad Global, handed over a hamper of educational items to Raindrops Foundation for onward distribution to the students present at the event. Members of SONEI visited the houses and gardens of a few local farmers and bought organic vegetables to encourage their efforts. SONEI office-bearers informed the Foundation that they would very soon announce a few cash awards for encouraging local youth achievers.
