Make space in your diary for Yuri’s Quiz
International celebration of progress into the uknown
DURBANITE Nadia Karrim’s mission is to make space fun and easy to understand for South Africans.
On Thursday, she will host a quiz night as part of the city’s participation in the international campaign, Yuri’s Night, which celebrates the first man in space: Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin in April 1961. He later died in a MIG-15 jet crash.
Karrim, a 31-year-old medical doctor who specialises in ear, nose and throat/head and neck surgery and is undertaking her master’s in medicine at UKZN, said while medicine was her passion, she was just as enthusiastic about space.
She is the country’s representative for the Space Generation Advisory Council, aimed at promoting global interest.
She said the general concept of Yuri’s Night was an international celebration of humanity’s progress in space exploration.
“Usually the events take place around the world, on or around April 12, to commemorate the first human space flight on this date. Events may range from gatherings as small as a family dinner party at home, to large-scale public events, and anyone can host an event.
“Yuri’s Night is a spacethemed educational, fun event I developed as a Space Generation Advisory Council initiative to promote space-related activities in South Africa.
“Durbanites can expect a fun evening for the whole family with good food, a movie for the younger kids in the Kids’ Corner, and an educational quiz with a prize for the team in first place,” she said.
Karrim said the event would appeal to all ages, regardless of their understanding of space.
“There will be a range of questions covering spacerelated facts. An example would be something like who was the first human in space.
“I have no space-related academic background, but I am purely a space enthusiast and I created all the questions so I’m sure the average Joe like me will be able to contend.
“In fact, I think school children will probably do better than most adults. And being school holidays, this is the perfect way to keep those young minds active. The quiz is open to anyone over the age of 10,” she said.
Karrim said the council was trying to promote space awareness in South Africa.
“My role as the South African national point of contact is to try to promote spacerelated careers to grow the South African space sector, to keep South African youth abreast of scholarship opportunities, to expand their knowledge of international space policy issues, to build networks and to encourage them to think creatively about the future of humanity’s use of space.
“The council is an international NGO/NPO that was developed at the third UN Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (Unispace III).”
And the sky is not the limit for the young medical professional: she is also pursuing a private pilot’s licence.
Yuri’s Night will be held at Mad Monks in Botha’s Hill.
For more information, visit the Facebook page www.facebook.com/events/678023915710789/ or e-mail Karrim: nadine.karrim@spacegeneration.org