Five learners from Mount View High School had the opportunity to visit the world-renowned Cape Point Nature Reserve for a day of adventure and inspiration, as they will be contributing to a new adventure short story to be written by local author, Kyle Jantjies.
Aaliyah Elliot, Brita Basalamo, Junaid Abduragmaan, Devina Faroe and Amaarah Jonas visited the Buffelsfontein Visitor Centre, walked up to the lighthouse and followed the lighthouse keeper’s trail, ending off at the Cape of Good Hope.
Jantjies, a teacher, is passionate about reading and introducing young people to reading - in particular fiction, and has authored 13 books.
In June he hosted a competition encouraging young people to read and stand a chance to feature as characters in his next adventure novel.
Jantjies said the five learners will be characters in the story based on the day’s experiences. Cape Point will serve as the setting for an imaginary land filled with adventure soon to be discovered by avid readers.
“The need for encouraging reading became apparent when most of the responses I received were from kids mentioning how uncomfortable they were with the idea of reading and sharing it on a public platform. They were willing to do other challenges but not read. I decided to change the approach and to reward learners who were already actively engaging in reading,” he said.
Jantjies, from Mitchells Plain, said it is an honour to inspire young people from similar circumstances to his own.
“I’m from the Cape Flats and it is such a privilege to inspire young people from my upbringing by giving them such an unusual opportunity to be a story book character and to explore their creativity,” he said.
Jantjies is inviting young people with a talent for drawing, particularly animation style, to contact him to help bring the characters to life visually for illustration in the story.
For more information, or to be part of the creative team to complete the book visit: www.kylejantjiesauthor.com
Cape Times