After a successful collaboration and development phase, Ghanaian fit, Leti Arts, and Netherlands Studio, 8D games, launched their latest addition to their game collection, Shkorey, a sex ed-game designed to promote knowledge of sexual health and birth care among Eritrean youth in the Netherlands.
Shkorey is a serious game built around human interactions, parenting, sexuality and relationships. It was initially launched for Eritrean youth in Leeuwarden, Netherlands. The game features two language modes, Dutch(Netherlands) and Tigrinya (Eritrea). Development featured input from the youth as the target audience, key policymakers and healthcare professionals who helped integrate medical advice into the game, with Leti Arts and 8D Games working on the graphics and technical realization.
The game provides access to knowledge and information about various subjects, including the human body, safe sex, pre-conception, pregnancy, and raising a young family in a culturally sensitive digital game setting. Through interactive storytelling, players are introduced to five different main characters. Each main character has challenges, and the player helps the character explore different choices and solutions.
Shkorey is a cleverly-thought out game that counters the stigmatization attached to sex education among contemporary African societies and, in this case, Eritrea. It creates an environment through which sex as a topic is freely discussable. The game additionally guides app users to local healthcare service providers and other relevant sources of information. The care providers are also provided with associated manuals to provide more culture-sensitive care and support to the youth in the field of sexual and reproductive health.
Why is Health-Gamified Learning Important?
Due to the rising prevalence of inappropriate sexual behaviors and associated health risks among adolescents, sexual education has become more and more crucial. For digital natives who have grown up with numerous digital technologies, traditional sex education teaching techniques are limiting. A useful strategy for teaching sex education may be to harness the power of technological applications that appeal to the younger generation.
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