With the rise of e-books and declining hard copy book sales in Zimbabwe, prominent author, Ignatius Mabasa has decided to go with the flow and is currently in the process of launching a folktale mobile phone application.
BY LORRAINE MUROMO
Mabasa said the application was meant to promote a reading culture, appreciation of traditional values and an interactive platform between parents and their children.
“I am currently working with Tendai Gundu, an application developer from the United Kingdom, and we still in the pre-testing stage,” he said.
“As soon as we get a few selective people to test the application and give feedback, we will then launch it.
“This application is a platform that allows for the interaction of parents and children on intellectual folktales for intellectual development. It is there to enhance mingling, the zeal to learn and ask questions.”
Mabasa said parents were supposed to be guardians of culture, thus, it was important for adults to participate in folktale reading, as it helped them to relate and pass on life’s value lessons to their children.
“Folktales are not necessarily for children only; they hold a sentimental value of always jogging a person’s mind back. They need someone to understand them first so they are in a better position to pass them to their children,” he said.
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In this fast-rising world of technology, Mabasa said e-learning was the best bet, considering how mobile density, locally and globally, was expanding.
“The printing of the hard copy is expensive, notwithstanding distribution, thus e-learning cuts costs significantly,” he said.
“I think e-learning makes a lot of profit because there is a versatile market, it’s not restricted. People all over the world can easily access the book.”
Mabasa is currently involved in the narration of folklore on a local radio station and at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe.
