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YOZA launches with aim to get young people reading again
Posted: 25.08.2010
YOZA's goal is to get young people reading and writing, in the 'book-poor' but 'cellphone-rich' context of South Africa. Here, cellphones are fast becoming a viable complement and a useful alternative where printed books are not accessible.
The YOZA library is available on three youth-friendly platforms to ensure that as wide a group of young people is reached. It can be accessed on:
1. a Mobi-site (http://yoza.mobi), on
2. MXit (New to MXit? Download it onto your phone, then once inside, go to Tradepost > MXit Cares > mobiBooks > YOZA) on all WAP-enabled cellphones,
as well as on
3. Facebook (search for "Yoza Cellphone Stories").
Steve Vosloo, founder of YOZA and fellow for 21st Century Learning at the Shuttleworth Foundation, says: "For the foreseeable future the cellphone, not the Kindle or iPad, is the e-reader of Africa. YOZA aims to capitalise on that get Africa's teens reading and writing."
WHAT'S CURRENTLY IN THE YOZA LIBRARY?
YOZA currently consists of these stories. A new chapter is released daily to keep the suspense building and to get curious teens back for more...
• Kontax, the flagship title about a group of four teenage friends in Cape Town.
• Streetskillz is a soccer series where unforgettable international soccer reality merges with a dramatic fictional street soccer competition in Du Noon township in Cape Town.
• Sisterz is about dark family secrets, the highs of friendship, school Pop Idols auditions, and the sensations of first love.
• Confessions of a Virgin Loser is the story of a Joburg boy steering his way through the complicated world of peer pressure, teenage sex and HIV/AIDS, while just trying to stay cool.
• A Bicycle Ride through Lesotho tells the entertaining tale of riding through the Mountain Kingdom on a bicycle.
• Yoza Classics is a section of its own, featuring a range of public domain titles. School prescribed work Macbeth is one of the first titles selected for YOZA Classics. The idea is not that teens will read the whole of Macbeth on their cellphones, but if they have to read for homework and they don't have a textbook, then they can do so on their phones.
PRAEKELT FOUNDATION'S INVOLVEMENT in YOZA
Praekelt Foundation was tasked with the technical development of the YOZA mobi site, as well as the campaign's presence on MXit.
Says Gustav Praekelt, Founder of Praekelt Foundation: "As Praekelt Foundation, our mission is to build scalable mobile solutions that impact the lives of people. We are excited to be a partner in this great initiative, YOZA, and look forward to work with Shuttleworth Foundation on future education and literature projects in the mobile space."
Youngsters testing YOZA before its official launch on 22 August 2010. Photos taken and supplied by Steve Vosloo, Shuttleworth Foundation.