My mom asked me to post. So I am posting. I am bored with my own circumstances, or rather consider them un-blog-worthy. I would much prefer to fill my post with real issues and pressing needs than share about my own fluff. I guess that's just where I am right now. As I look forward to heading off to school at Baylor, I am reminded of why I am going to school, why I want to pursue a career in the medical field, and why I am so so blessed.
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A friend of mine forwarded me this link. (Read on before you click link) It is a link to a youth game on UNICEF's website. I remember playing both Oregon and Amazon Trail as a younger child and found them both to be fun and addicting. Any other trail blazers? I especially liked the part on Oregon Trail where you got to go shoot bear and likewise for harpooning fish in the Amazon River. (I've never been big on real life hunting or fishing, just the kind where you always catch something, albeit electronically) The game that the above link links to is a little different than those two, similar in style, but less fun and more challenging. Less fun because of the reality of the situation - not a game at all.
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In the game, you are given a Haitian family of five and presented with the task of keeping the family afloat (healthy, happy, educated ... alive.) The game is divided into four years or sixteen "seasons." These include the rainy season, the dry season, the hurricane season, etc. At the end of year two, I am already 1470 gourdes in debt. I've played several times now and still have not managed to get past year two while keeping the parents alive (if the parents die the game is over because the kids are presumably farmed off to different family members and in worse conditions than before you went and played with their family and killed their parents. humph.) I've had to remove them from hospitals, stopping treatment of listed diseases like diphtheria and malaria, because of a lack of funds. I've chosen to send the sons in the family to work in the fields of the family farm, rather than send them to school. The father of the family is at home resting, since he is too weak to work but they are too poor to seek medical treatment. As for the mother and daughter, I've been rotating them between going to school, running out of money and being forced to send them to work in the fields, being too ill to work in the fields, sending them to the hospital, running out of money again and not being able to treat them, and sending them back home to rest.`
This game saddens me, but intrigues me. Not because it is new knowledge, but because it is presented in a new crafty way. I like most things about the game - because I see privileged American children like myself becoming frustrated with losing the game because they have run out of money to treat the ailing family members and the family members have died. It is frustrating to the player, but it is not real. It's just a game that we play sitting with our full bellies in our heated (or air-conditioned) homes. Some kids will angrily 'x' out the window and go on to less challenging video games while others will pause and actually learn something. This game is about people in a very real country just a few hundred miles from American shoreline. The game's challenges are happening to very real people every day of their lives - without the option to just quit and move on to something less challenging.
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While I find some things a little unrealistic about the game, like the distance from the family's home to the hospital (much too close in proximity) or the job opportunities (yes multiple, that is if the family member has the proper education ... which also seems unlikely) ... I think it is eye-opening and very appropriate for kids (and adults), especially around the Christmas [presents] season. Because let's face it, the majority of American kids, Christian or not, are more worried about what's under the tree than what's in the manger. Even for me, having lived in Haiti, this game puts me back in my place as I shamefully fall back into the American traps of impatience and non-gratitude.
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I encourage and challenge you to play this game yourself and share it with your kids. Remember, as you 'play,' those that endure this 'game' daily - pray for them and please consider giving to organizations that partner with them. We have so much. This game is an awesome, raw reminder of that.
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~Britt (Who will eventually post what her mom wanted her to post: updates on my thoughts as I tearfully but optimistically move away from the the Haiti portion of the family, onto new undertakings in just 22
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P.S. -- Thanks to K. Fulton for passing this on!
