Through the ages: Teens and 20-somethings to go on a historical trip

Tourism department to organise a programme to create awareness about cultural heritage.

PESHAWAR:

A guided tour through Jinan Wali Dheri in Haripur, of photographs at Swabi’s Hund Fort and free lunch – this is what the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s department for sports, tourism, archaeology, youth affairs and museums plans to do to raise awareness among the youth about cultural heritage.

The programme which is likely to be launched in March is aimed towards school, college and university students between the ages of 15 and 30.

Nawazuddin, an archaeology directorate official, who is overseeing the project, told The Express Tribune they will have free guided tours through various historical and archaeological sites and museums. He said their aim was to show the youth the region’s glorious past and give them an opportunity to have a better understanding of how to conserve it.

In the first phase of the programme, he said, they plan to take female students from the outskirts of three districts – Nowshera, Charsadda and Peshawar – to Peshawar Museum, Gor Gathri, Mohallah Sethi, Takht Bhai, Jamal Garhi, Shahbaz Garhi, Mardan Museum, Hund Museum, Hund Fort and Aziz Dheri in Swabi district, Nikara rest house, Jinan Wali Dheri in Haripur and Taxila Museum.

According to the official, the programme is supposed to run till June. Nawazuddin said at least 50 such tours would be arranged for the students in the first phase of the programme. He added the programme will most likely be extended to include the entire province soon.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 2^nd, 2014.