Play for Peace

"Peace Be with You"  (image by Potentials) 

Today's youth is quite enamored with video games.  But many of these video games are quite enamored with violence.

Along came the most unlikely of game changers, a man who had spent 22 of his 24 years “in a Ugandan refugee camp.”  Lual Mayen had been raised without electricity, and hadn’t even seen a computer for years.

When Mayen’s mother finally saved enough money to buy him one, her only wish was that he “follow the right path of life.”  For Mayen, that path turned out to be peace.

He began by walking three hours to the nearest Internet café “just to charge his new computer." He slowly taught himself all about gaming.  His desire to “create a game” that would focus upon “fostering positive change in his community and the world” was rapidly growing.

Mayen titled his eventual creation Salaam, which means “peace” in Arabic.  This game features a “heart of peace” that grows “large enough to destroy symbols of war and hate.”  Salaam went viral, and Mayen is now partnering with Facebook to popularize it even further.

Resources

https://blog.bonobos.com/lual-mayen-afs/ 

Copyright October 15, 2019 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved