Colombian Children To Learn About Indigenous Cultures Playing Video Games

To help Colombian children to discover the traditions of Colombia's native communities, four video games featuring landscapes, clothing and music of indigenous culture has been developed. The Indigenous Ancestral Wisdom project, employing //video games and cards, is led by the Sura Group and was developed by Colombia Games, targeting children of elementary-school age.

Project director Cecilia Duque told EFE the video games were designed to help children learn about ethnic groups so they can develop a sense of belonging and identity.

"There are almost 86 ethnic groups in Colombia, each with a different language. There are nearly 90 indigenous dialects and in the formal educational system people do not receive information" about them, Duque said.

Children will get to learn about the Embera, Guambiana, Huitoto, Kogui, Kuna, Kurripako, Sukuani and Wayuu ethnic groups, which were selected after researchers working on the project, divided the country into eight cultural ecosystems.

"First, different cultures with similar spaces and behaviors were selected, and then the most representative indigenous communities in each ecosystem were chosen," Duque said.

The initiative started about 18 months ago, when 10 professionals started the research phase, and work continued on two stages: app creation and production of learning cards.

Duque said project developers decided to use video games since that are the language children use today. With these tools, children are set to build puzzles that, once completed, reveal which ethnic group the character belongs to and search for items, such as the spindles used by Kogui Indians to hand-spin cotton, or the Kunas' "karpa" employed to transport food.

The video games also depict Indians' landscapes and stories.

Colombia Games president Juan Nantes said his company immediately joined the project.

"Our whole team was enthusiastic and joined the story, and beyond producing a game we identified with the cause," Nantes said.

Colombia Games has been in the market 10 years and its portfolio includes more than 120 apps.

Source-IANS