In Santo Domingo, the Dominican Ministry of Youth has kicked off an ambitious new initiative called the “Youth Out Loud” challenge, where five young Dominican readers will set out to win back the prestigious Guinness World Record for continuous team reading aloud on behalf of the Caribbean nation.
The unprecedented reading attempt launched on August 31 and is scheduled to run through September 20. Under the strict regulatory requirements set by Guinness World Records for official validation, the five participants will maintain non-stop round-the-clock reading for a full 20 consecutive days, with structured rotations to keep the streak alive throughout the entire attempt.
Carlos Valdez, the country’s Minister of Youth, outlined that the program holds broader goals beyond just claiming the international record. Beyond the pursuit of the title, the initiative is designed to showcase the untapped potential of young Dominicans, while fostering a widespread culture of reading, strengthening educational engagement, and instilling core values of discipline and perseverance among the country’s youth population.
To ensure full transparency and public engagement, the entire 20-day attempt will be streamed live 24 hours a day, giving families, students, educational institutions, and general audiences across the country and around the world the opportunity to follow the participants’ progress in real time. The effort has brought together a wide coalition of public and private partners to support the attempt. The five participating readers were selected by the Dominican Ministry of Education through its national PLERD program, with roughly 30 schools and 1,500 students involved in supporting activities surrounding the challenge. The National Institute of School Feeding (INABIE) will provide daily meals for the participants, while leading local business Grupo Ramos has stepped in to supply snacks and official uniforms for the team. FAIA Media, a local production firm, is overseeing all audiovisual production and managing the uninterrupted live broadcast of the attempt.
In a statement following the launch, the Ministry of Youth emphasized that the “Youth Out Loud” challenge is intended to prove how collective commitment and consistent dedication can elevate young Dominican voices to the global stage. What began with just a single book and five passionate young readers has grown into a nationwide collaborative effort, marking the start of what participants and organizers hope will end with a new world record for the Dominican Republic.