Game Teaches Impoverished Kenyans How to Deal with Crime, AIDS
Game Teaches Impoverished Kenyans How to Deal with Crime, AIDS
September 9, 2009
Last December GamePolitics reported on Pamoja Mtaani, a PC game developed through a partnership with Warner Bros. Interactive, North Carolina-based Virtual Heroes (creators of America's Army) and The Partnership For an HIV-free Generation.
The game's title translates to "Together in the Hood," and Pamoja Mtaani aims to help players learn skills to negotiate difficult issues such as crime and HIV in some of East Africa's most impoverished areas.
GP reader Wai Yen Tang dropped us a line to say that a video report on the game and how it is being used is now available on YouTube.
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Posted 11/20/09 at 05:42pm
ZippyDSMlee: oh may the cute stab out your eyes, http://www.youtube.com/user/simonscat
ZippyDSMlee: oh may the cute stab out your eyes, http://www.youtube.com/user/simonscat
Posted 11/20/09 at 05:17pm
JDKJ: O.K. Suit yourself. But when you're wearing Ray-Bans, sitting on a curb with a white cane and a cup of pencils, and doing Stevie Wonder impersonations, don't say I didn't warn you.
JDKJ: O.K. Suit yourself. But when you're wearing Ray-Bans, sitting on a curb with a white cane and a cup of pencils, and doing Stevie Wonder impersonations, don't say I didn't warn you.
Posted 11/20/09 at 05:10pm
ZippyDSMlee: JD:No thank you I don;t want your cooties...or STDs...
ZippyDSMlee: JD:No thank you I don;t want your cooties...or STDs...
Posted 11/20/09 at 05:01pm
JDKJ: Me. I'm rehearsing the role just in case I do get dubbed Zippy The Soecnda.
JDKJ: Me. I'm rehearsing the role just in case I do get dubbed Zippy The Soecnda.
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:59pm
DarkSaber: Wait, is that meant to be Zippy, me or you?
DarkSaber: Wait, is that meant to be Zippy, me or you?
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:49pm
JDKJ: I cud caer lez. =^^= *wakes up in mid-afternoon after staying up until 3:00AM soldering resistors on to circuit boards, stumbles around in formerly white but now grey underwear, while simultaneously scratching groin with vigor and making coffee*
JDKJ: I cud caer lez. =^^= *wakes up in mid-afternoon after staying up until 3:00AM soldering resistors on to circuit boards, stumbles around in formerly white but now grey underwear, while simultaneously scratching groin with vigor and making coffee*
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:46pm
DarkSaber: knell? Don't you mean Neil? Anymore of tht and I'll dub thee Zippy The Soecnda
DarkSaber: knell? Don't you mean Neil? Anymore of tht and I'll dub thee Zippy The Soecnda
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:44pm
JDKJ: Now, now, Saber. Don't be salty. You weren't the first one to knell and bob and you ain't gonna be the last one, either.
JDKJ: Now, now, Saber. Don't be salty. You weren't the first one to knell and bob and you ain't gonna be the last one, either.
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:42pm
DarkSaber: JD's feeling rather desperate it seems.
DarkSaber: JD's feeling rather desperate it seems.
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:33pm
JDKJ: C'mon, Zip. You already touch yourself way too much. Spread the love. Before you go blind.
JDKJ: C'mon, Zip. You already touch yourself way too much. Spread the love. Before you go blind.
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:27pm
ZippyDSMlee: JD:No and I ain't touching any part of you or your friends!! :P
ZippyDSMlee: JD:No and I ain't touching any part of you or your friends!! :P
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:25pm
JDKJ: @Zip: You know Lik Mitaint?
JDKJ: @Zip: You know Lik Mitaint?
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:18pm
ZippyDSMlee: neill and bob,oldest giveing head joke and most lamest...
ZippyDSMlee: neill and bob,oldest giveing head joke and most lamest...
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:18pm
JDKJ: But thanks for the memory. MIB's a classic. *sings* "Here come the Men in Black. Galaxy defenders. Here come the Men in Black. They won't let you remember."
JDKJ: But thanks for the memory. MIB's a classic. *sings* "Here come the Men in Black. Galaxy defenders. Here come the Men in Black. They won't let you remember."
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:18pm
ZippyDSMlee: JD:for the record I told you you can suck your own dck.
ZippyDSMlee: JD:for the record I told you you can suck your own dck.
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:07pm
JDKJ: Naw, man. That's Mueedeegiaap and Bob. And you can stop bobbing. I got Zippy bobbing now, too.
JDKJ: Naw, man. That's Mueedeegiaap and Bob. And you can stop bobbing. I got Zippy bobbing now, too.
Posted 11/20/09 at 03:56pm
DarkSaber: OH I get it now! It's Men In Black quote! The twins that run the comm centre in HQ.
DarkSaber: OH I get it now! It's Men In Black quote! The twins that run the comm centre in HQ.
Posted 11/20/09 at 03:49pm
JDKJ: I'd like to introduce you to them. First, Neil. Then, Bob.
JDKJ: I'd like to introduce you to them. First, Neil. Then, Bob.
Posted 11/20/09 at 03:47pm
ZippyDSMlee: JD:I know they are intimate friends of yours...
ZippyDSMlee: JD:I know they are intimate friends of yours...
Posted 11/20/09 at 03:44pm
JDKJ: @Zip: You know Neil and Bob?
JDKJ: @Zip: You know Neil and Bob?
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Comments
How long until someone says this game is racist?
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He was dead when I got here.
This game isn't racist, it's stupid. You can't be too impoverished if you've access to a PC and leisure time to play games on it.
I know, it's just that anytime anyone makes a game about a somewhat negative subject and the focus is in Africa, someone cries racism.
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He was dead when I got here.
You mean that one time it happened because of Resident Evil 5? (If there are other occurances, I'm just unaware of them, although I wouldn;t be at all surprised.)
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I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.
RE5, and L4D2.
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He was dead when I got here.
L4D2 is New Orleans, not Africa.
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I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.
But it has black people. That are called African-American. Like from Africa. Therefore, it MUST be racist. Even if New Orleans in mostly black. How dare those white racist pigs use a common demographic to represent a realistic depiction of a city.
-If an apple a day keeps the doctor away....what happens when a doctor eats an apple?-
Actually many of these areas have access to internet caffes which spread out the cost of computer ownership.
As for leisure time. Impoverished areas are usually that way due to lack of employment... so LOTS of free time.
Still, I admit I do not see the value in such games. I have a difficult time seeing anyone in these regions actually playing them and even if they do, not pulling useful lessons.
Do you think the impoverished of Kenya prefer to sip lattes or cappuccinos while they hang out at cafes, idly surfing the internet? LOL!! But at least the cafes in Kenya must have a more liberal admission policy than those in the States. I don't see too many cafes in the States that'll allow patrons inside who aren't wearing any shoes.
You have a point with the PC thing. But as far as the leisure time point thing, no. Many impovrished people have plenty of "leisure time". But more often it's not so much leisure as much as "I don't have any money to actually do anything so I'll just sit in this chair and stare at the wall."
-Ultimately what will do in mankind is a person's fear of their own freedom-
You may be surprised by the amount of time and effort that often goes into being poor.
Am I reading too much into it, or did you REALLY just imply the poor are poor because they choose to be and make an effort to be?
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I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.
Yes, you are. I'm saying that the very poor often have to expend vast amounts of time and effort simply ensuring that they don't keel over dead.
Ah right, I getcha now.
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I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.
This thread went stupid in one post. How quaint.
Anyways, as JDKJ pointed out, how can one be impoverished and at the same time have the tech to play this game (As well as the free time). There's only one way for people to access this, and even that costs money.
Isn't everyone in Kenya impoverished? The GDP is less than $2k. Unless they mean impoverished compared to other Kenyans. This game gives me the lulz.
http://www.eliteownage.com/nice