Special honour for young author
MULTIPLE award winner and best-selling author Stacey Fru is flying the South African flag high as the youngest participant at the 2019 World Youth Forum’s Arab and African Youth Platform in Egypt.
The 12-year-old will have the opportunity to engage with top policy makers and to network with promising youths from the region and the world who are determined to make a difference, under the auspices of president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. The other attendees are all between the ages of 18 and 40.
The three-day event held in Aswan and ending today engages youth from around the globe and allows them to exchange views and recommend initiatives to decision-makers and influential figures. The forum is known for promoting peace, prosperity, harmony and progress around the world.
“The eligibility of applicants should be age 18 to 40-years-old, so I am honoured that I was selected and I am the youngest participant. I feel very excited to be able to attend,” she said yesterday.
“I have never been abroad, so I am very happy to be going to such a gathering that will affect young people and encourage them to read and write and also to be safe and secure. Exactly the goals of my foundation,” Stacey said.
Stacey donates items like books, computers, clothing and food to children and adults in South Africa through The Stacey Fru Foundation.
The Joburg-based writer is working to release two books this year, one focusing on child trafficking and the other on finding a role model.
At the age of 7 Stacey wrote an illustrated the 108-page Smelly Cats without her parents’ knowledge, and completed work on her second book Bob and the Snake aged 8. Before she turned 9, she has received three awards.
In 2016 Stacey won the National Development Agency Award for best early childhood education publication for Smelly Cats.