Launched in June 2019, students from different schools who bought copies of the popular book ‘Wasted Beauty’ were given a chance to be part of the first-ever Mixateens Literacy tour to Dubai, funded by SMS ONE. A total of 10 girls were chosen after engaging in several literacy competitions in which boys as well participated.
While speaking at the final briefing of the 10 lucky girls and their parents today, the proprietor of Mixateens, Mr. David Mushabe revealed that literacy tours are organized to track where the author was born, lived or what places he writes about in his book.
“For those of you who got pocket money and decided to invest it in Wasted Beauty, we decided to reward you and were are saying this is season one, there will be other books coming and I think season two will be next year although it will be other schools. This time we are traveling to Dubai, maybe we will travel to Cape Town for season two, we will keep changing destinations.” Mushabe said during the briefing.
The literacy tour is slated to run from 30th August 2019 to 3rd September 2019 where the winners will visit several places like Burj Khalifa, Dubai Mall , Dubai Aquarium, IMG, Dolphinarium, the beach, and many others.
Literary tourists are specifically interested in how places have influenced writing and at the same time how writing has created places.
Mushabe further revealed that in order for someone to become a literacy tourist, all they need is book-love and an inquisitive mindset; however, there are literary guides, literary maps, and literary tours to help them on their way. There are also many museums associated with writers, and these are usually housed in buildings associated with a writer’s birth or literary career, such as their home.
According to the SMS ONE Chief Operations Officer, Charity Mbabazi Byarugaba, what they require from the winners are stories that will change not only their lives but their peers as well. She added that they have chosen a destination that will enable the teens to write as many stories ranging from science, fiction, creativity, art among others.
Ahead of their literacy tour to Dubai, the 10 girls have already secured their visas for a journey set to kick off on Friday.
Other places to be visited by the 10 lucky winners during their Dubai tour include; attractions based on popular Cartoon Network characters, iconic Marvel Super Heroes and animatronic dinosaurs. Other facilities include a variety of themed retail stores and dining venues, and a 12-screen Novo cinema complex.
MixaTeens is a program targeting teens (13-19 Year olds). It is implemented in school and out of school through community programming and digital platforms that provide an opportunity for the teens to Engage, Inspire, Change and Grow.
You must be logged in to post a comment.