A&E Lanka shines as only Apparel company to win multiple awards at Effies

American & Efird Lanka (A&E Lanka), a Portfolio Company of Elevate Textiles, became the only Apparel company to take home multiple awards at the 12th Effie Awards held recently at the Monarch Imperial.

The joint entry made by A&E, Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) and Triad for “Life Chant” Dengue Awareness campaign won Merit awards in four categories including ‘Nonprofit/Pro-bono/Public Service’, ‘Disease Awareness / Education Advocacy’, ‘Media Innovation’ and ‘Influencers’.

The innovative campaign focused on educating slum dwellers in Colombo that their actions such as improper waste disposal and poor water storage were resulting in the creation of dengue mosquito breeding spots. In these poverty-stricken areas religion takes prominence with the highest density of religious shrines present. Educative chants on dengue mosquito breeding were written, recorded and recited by monks. These chants were aired during morning and evening pirith through loudspeakers in temples and shrines situated in the heart of the slums spreading the message to the entire community. Monks also visited the slums and educated people on dengue breeding, tied special ‘Life Thread’ (pirith nool) that was infused with citronella oil and with the pattern of the unique marking of the dengue mosquito as a reminder to clean breeding spots. The campaign resulted in over 300 homes being cleared of dengue breeding spots, 1.9 million people reached through shrines and radio, and 92% recall of dengue breeding spots.

Commenting on their involvement and the win, Sanjay Chandraratna – Director Sales & Marketing, A&E Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, stated, “We are proud to have made such an impact with our ‘Life Chant’ campaign by taking home as many as 4 Merit awards. We are thankful to our partners the Colombo Municipal Council and Triad for joining hands with us to make the campaign a very successful one. These award wins truly highlight what we can achieve when we collaborate and work together with one goal in mind.”