DYONNE LINDA Pryce, a 16-year-old fifth form student of Ardenne High School, has been selected as Jamaica's sole representative on an exciting adventure tour, the Ruta Quetzal, with over 300 other teenage participants from some 40 countries.
The Ruta Quetzal, named for Christopher Columbus' voyages (Ruta) and the magnificent Mexican bird (quetzal) worshipped by the Aztecs and Mayas as the god of the air, recreates the adventures of times past when groups went on journeys of discovery to distant land. Now more than 500 years after Columbus' famous trips, this the 21st renewal of the tour is being sponsored by major Spanish bank, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Spain.
Participants will this year rediscover the lost Mayan cities in Guatemala and Belize and then end their tour in Spain, culminating with the group of young people being hosted by the king of Spain.
This programme has an enormous impact in Spanish media being extensively covered by the press and each day of the tour can be tracked in any part of the world with daily stories posted by the Spanish media on an official Ruta Quetzal BBVA media site.
ACADEMIC COMPONENT
Since the first voyage in 1979, approximately 10,000 students from over 40 countries have participated in this itinerant classroom which includes not only cultural and sporting activities, but also an academic component. For this reason, only young persons who are highly motivated, have achieved as high level of academic success and have a good command of the Spanish language (as the entire programme is conducted in Spanish), are selected for participation.
Pryce leaves Jamaica for Spain on June 16 and returns on July 30.
