Celebrating Young Writers

Article by Veronicah Kizza

Writing is an art that cannot be mastered all at once. It takes a lot of interest, great effort, commitment and resilience on the part of the writer to produce a compelling piece of work for his or her audience.

On February 24th, 2020, Wellspring Academy young writers were awarded certificates of participation and achievement for their role played in writing beautifully crafted original stories that celebrate, promote and uphold the Rwandan culture.

Wellspring Academy is grateful to DUCERE foundation that made it possible for the students to explore their writing skills. DUCERE foundation is a global organisation that spear-headed the improvement of students’ creativity writing original stories based on their country of origin all over Africa.

These stories make up the second edition to be published in Rwanda in the African Children’s Stories series. It features stories like The Singing Siren, Broken Hearts, and Wedlock among other thrilling and captivating stories.

While speaking to the students, Principal Stephen Rudakemwa, appreciated and congratulated the participants for reaching this milestone. He further welcomed parents and guests who graced us with their presence at this event. In his call, he urged all the students to also join in this skill of writing and other school activities.

”This is by far the best publication of all. DUCERE is very pleased with your immense efforts”, remarked Mrs. Cheryl Mutabazi, the Rwandan coordinator of the DUCERE foundation.

Cheryl further encouraged more students to take part in the writing whenever they can. She appreciated the school administration and staff for giving the platform to youngsters to open their ideas freely.

The Wellspring Academy community was greatly honored with the presence of Mrs. Rose Baguma, Director General of Education Policy and Planning at MINEDUC. In her address to the students, Mrs. Baguma appreciated and congratulated the young achievers for their success. She further stressed the values of reading and writing as these skills are inseparable. She pledges continued support from the Ministry of Education towards such initiatives in the future.

Mrs. Baguma also encouraged and advised the student community to read the written works of their colleagues alongside a variety of other writings. She stressed this fact by saying that this would help us to reject the saying that ”if you want to hide anything from an African, write it in a book”. She concluded by urging students to “read, read, read!”

Each young writer received a certificate and copy of the book for themselves and some family members. A number of other books were also left for our library.

Congrats young people – you’ve made us proud.

For more photos of the event, please check our photo gallery or following this link: African Children’s Stories Awards Ceremony