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Bridge Reporter —
MALLON MARUME from Mutare Boys High will be travelling to Paris next month with his dad. This is after he won the DStv Eutelsat Star Awards in the poster category early this year. As part of his prize, Mallon will visit Eutelsat in Paris and a satellite construction site.
The deadline for entries in this year’s DStv Eutelsat Star Awards competition is drawing closer, and young Zimbabweans have been urged to take part in this international essay and poster competition that has in the past been won by Zimbabwean students.
Liz Dziva, publicity and public relations manager of MultiChoice Zimbabwe, said the organisers were calling on entries from students aged between 14 and 19 years of age for the 2016 competition, again focused on stimulating an interest in the use of satellite technology to enhance African lives.
“This is a competition that is open to young people across Africa, but is one in which Zimbabweans have had particular success over the past few years, with winners and runners-up in the two different sections of the event.”
Essay and poster designs this year must be based on the following topic: “Take yourself into the future as a scientist, tasked with designing a new-age satellite that will help improve the lives of Africans. Tell us what you would call your satellite and describe the different functions and roles that it would play in the Africa of the future.”
The competition is judged at national and international levels, with winners and runners-up in both categories at both levels. elected by a jury from what is again likely to be thousands of entries from across the continent, the overall international essay and poster winners will be eligible for once-in-a-lifetime trips for two to Paris to visit Eutelsat satellite facilities; the essay winner will also travel to the Caribbean to view a rocket being launched into space.
Runners-up will each win a trip to South Africa to explore several sites as guests of MultiChoice Africa. National winners and runners-up will also receive prizes.
“The schools attended by the overall international winners also each receive a DStv installation, including a dish, television, decoder and free access to the DStv Education Bouquet,” said Ms Dziva.
“This competition is open to all secondary-level students with an appetite for technology. Entry forms are now available any MultiChoice office, while copies also can be downloaded from www.dstvstarawards.com.”
Entries are accepted in English, French and Portuguese and will be judged on the basis of high-standard criteria of accuracy, creativity, originality and innovation. The competition closes on November 7 and winners will be named at an awards ceremony in February 2017.
“The competition stemmed from a view by MultiChoice Africa and Eutelsat that science and technology education should help young minds in their quest to positively change their world,” said Ms Dziva.
“It’s now in its sixth successive year of running and this joint initiative has inspired innovative thinking among a new African generation. This pan-African collaboration has created a meaningful engagement with students, the academic community and the scientific world and what has been very exciting has been the fact that, since the start of the DStv Eutelsat Star Awards competition in 2011, more than 5 000 students have taken part in this unique competition.
“We have already received a number of entries and we look forward to many more coming through, so that we can see the wealth of talent we have in this country doing themselves proud and also giving pride to their parents, schools and the community at large.”
Students, YOU CAN SEND YOUR ARTICLES THROUGH E-MAIL, FACEBOOK, WHATSAPP or TEXT Just app Charles Mushinga on 0772936678 or send your articles, pictures, poetry, art . . . to Charles Mushinga at [email protected] or [email protected] or follow Charles Mushinga on Facebook or @charlesmushinga on Twitter. You can also post articles to The Sunday Mail Bridge, PO Box 396, Harare or call 0772936678.
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