Australia-based Kerala girls aim record, to sing 193 national anthems for world peace

Doha: Siblings Teresa Joy and Agnus Joy, who memorised national anthems of 193 member countries of the United Nations, are all set to launch an international event titled ‘Salute the Nations’.

The young girls, who hail from Kerala and settled in Australia, are planning to perform the event in various countries with the support of the United Nations.

Proceeds from the events will go to UN’s peace and charity efforts, philanthropic organisations and outfits working for women’s safety.

The event will kickstart at the St John’s Cathedral in Brisbane in Australia on September 21 as part of Cathedral’s International Day of Peace celebrations.

Judges from various World record organisations, including the Universal Records, will watch the event, said Teresa. “We will sing all the world’s national anthems in 100 languages in six hours. We will take a 10-minute break every two hours,” she said.

Agnus said setting a world record is not their main agenda. “Our aim is to promote World peace, children’s safety and women’s empowerment. We will utilise the funds raised through the event for charity,” she said.

The duo learnt to sing the national anthems after conducting extensive research for eight years. "We learnt the meaning of each national anthem and its history before memorising them. We worked for months to perfect our recitation," Teresa said. 

In 2020, the sisters were selected to perform the anthems in various countries as part of the 75th anniversary celebrations of the United Nations, but the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

They have uploaded the national anthem of each country in various social media platforms, expressing solidarity with the COVID-19-hit people. 

The sisters run the Agnes and Theresa Peace Foundation for the empowerment of women and children.

Teresa and Agnus hail from Cherthala in Kerala's Alappuzha district. Their father Joy is a film-maker and mother Jaqueline is a nurse in Queensland.