March 5, 2009

PEPFAR-Sponsored Video Game Promotes HIV Prevention in Kenya

Through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the U.S. government is working with Warner Brothers Entertainment to produce and distribute a video game to teach Kenyan youth how to protect themselves from HIV, Voice of America News reports.

The game is called Pamoja Mtaani, which is Swahili for “Together in the Hood.” Players assume the identity of one of five characters and must make important life choices and carry out specific missions to progress through the game. As they progress, players learn about HIV prevention.

“Through interactions with themselves and other characters, they learn that these behaviors they are doing are actually risky and there are ramifications for those,” said Brad Wilson of game company Virtual Heroes Inc., which was contracted by Warner Brothers to develop Pamoja Mtaani. “They realistically—not a Disney-type movie change but realistic—change from the beginning to the end. What we are hoping is that a lot of that is going to sink in to the youth.”

The game targets 15- to 19-year-olds, simulating real-life settings in Kenya’s capital of Nairobi. The game was launched last December at two sites in Nairobi’s Mukuru slum, with an additional two sites now offering the game.

“They teach me about HIV prevention activities,” said Evelyne Mwandia, one of the game’s Kenyan players. “I am told how to protect [myself]: Have one partner, use a condom. At the end of it, I am enjoying my life. I have gone though all the stages, and I am a winner.”

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