A unique creative and interactive experience that takes care of small pens, was presented yesterday, by the Emirates Literature Foundation, through the workshop “Voices of future generations”, the initiative that lands in the Middle East, specifically in the Emirates, with the support of «UNESCO», and the patronage of Sheikha Hessa bint Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the initiative's goodwill ambassador in the Arab Gulf region, to enable writing lovers of talented youngsters between the ages of eight and 12 to tell their stories and express their views and ideas, by encouraging them to spread the message of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and then highlight Sustainable development goals E, and to give children the right to express their hopes, dreams and aspirations for a sustainable future.

The workshop was held at the School “Al-Mawakeb Al-Khawaneej” and attracted a group of students from different educational levels and close age groups, who came to see the principles, principles and reasons for writing successful stories, while the workshop supervisor, Hagop Derta Vientiane, reviewed the outlines of the initiative and the stages that pass It includes the process of building the story, and the various elements that make up it, including personalities, events and temporal and spatial environments, and story sources and references accompanying their experience, through various engagements aiming to involve children in these various stages, through explanatory explanations, exercises and interactive application tests in which he expressed the Children for their enthusiasm to express themselves, put their ideas and discussed widely with their friends.

Activities and interaction

The workshop started with a review of the stages of writing the story, through various activities and exercises, and the importance of identifying the characters of the story that are supposed to be a child or a child, referring to a value that includes the story of secondary characters that contribute to enriching events and providing the narrative plot with diversity, through reviewing its conditions and its relationship with the “Emirati personality” in a way General, given that it is from the Emirates. At the same time, it points to the characteristics of the character that must be incorporated into the story through the tests of masks and contrasting faces, which the supervisor presented to the children, to participate in describing them in different teams, and through the accumulated attributes and overtones they record with classical.

The second part of the workshop covered various activities that dealt with a number of tests measuring the intelligence of children, their varying capabilities to express, characterize, and extract ideas from pictures, and then interpret them creatively. Exercises were also described, “describing the actions of story personalities”, “story environment” and “story events” To various examinations to measure the general information of the child and his imagination, through entertaining gaming experiences and a video clip, visual exercises to expand their creative imagination, and teach them the mechanisms of translating the time and place environment, events, and goals of their stories in a participatory manner, which contributed to spreading an atmosphere of joy and enthusiasm among the participants.

Enthusiasm and confidence

Emirati student Hessa Lootah expressed her enthusiasm to participate in the activities of this workshop, which she considered as a pleasant surprise that serves her dreams and ambitions by publishing her stories on a large scale, saying: “I am very happy that I learned today some stages and techniques of writing my story, its basics and even its characters, but writing has already I have tried it and I am still in Arabic and English, as I write stories for children that I draw from my imagination and convey my expectations from the present in which I live, and I mean, of course, to express my wishes and dreams in the future, ”referring to the last of her stories,“ Mary and Amna ”, which I wrote in English and intends to translate into a Arab, to take care of her father trying to publish. As for the step to reach the final list and win the prize, Hessa expressed her confidence in the success and her enthusiasm for winning the title, especially her pride in participating in this initiative.

Passionate about reading

Ataba Al-Kindy revealed her distinction in the subject matter of expression: “I am passionate about reading and acquiring books since childhood, and this has improved my ability to write, both at school and outside, and also attracted me to experience poetry from the age of nine, and to qualify in the school competition this year.” Noting that it She benefited from the information covered by the workshop in describing the characters that help the reader to experience and understand events.

Lofty goals

The Voices of Future Generations initiative was launched in 2014 to serve the rights of children around the world to learn, read and write, through a series of books composed by children between the ages of eight and 12 years, for children aged six years and over. The drawings are designed, published, and distributed to the world's schools and libraries.

International awards and honors

Since the program's inception, 12 books have been printed, distributed to various countries of the world (a short set of eight stories and 11 individual books). The initiative is dedicated to young authors who won gold, silver and bronze medals and certificates. As for the Emirates Literature Foundation, the "Creative Writing" awards will be awarded to the 10 children's authors who reach the final list.

The workshop was held in "Al Khawaneeq processions", and attracted students from different levels.

The initiative lands in the Emirates, with support from «UNESCO».