How A Video Game From A Refugee Camp Is Changing The World

When Luan Mayen developed a video game from his ordeal in a South Sudanese refugee camp, he has given the world a lot to learn....

The South Sudanese refugee youth who has brought hope from the dead 

Luan Mayen was like any other refugee who wouldn’t see any kind of hope of survival has done something completely magnificent. He is all of 25 years who has developed a video game that in inspired from his struggle while in a refugee camp. He learned coding while in a refugee camp after fleeing South Sudan.

The boy is full of hope. Speaking to media agencies he said, “A lot of people don’t understand the journey of a refugee.” Mayen spent his first 22 years in a refugee camp in northern Uganda before moving to the United States.

Mayen shared horrors of war, of living in refugee camps, of how young babies were abandoned by parents who couldn’t care for them anymore and were fending for their lives. Mayen has developed a game which gives gamers a view into living for a refugee amidst war like conditions. His game is called Salaam, an Arabic greeting meaning peace. The game enables users who have never had to flee a war-torn country to take a virtual trek to a “peaceful environment” — if they can dodge hostile troops and find enough food and water.

As head of his own video game company in Washington, Mayen believes that “gamification,” where participants make decisions unlike the passive experience of watching a movie, puts ordinary people in the shoes of a refugee.

The game is to start for free. But Luan has made a wise choice of using the gaming platform to raise money for refugees. When people playing on the game need to buy utilities and necessities, they make in-app purchases and the proceeds go the refugee camp.

Growing up in a refugee camp, Mayen had never even seen a computer until one day, at age 12, he reported to the camp’s registration center. His mother worked hard for three years, amidst the refugee living conditions to buy him a new laptop, which has become his souvenir and remains displayed in his house.

His game went viral after he uploaded it to Facebook and caught the attention of the gaming industry. In 2018, he was named a Global Gaming Citizen at the Game Awards in Los Angeles.

Mayen is hopeful that his struggle will create great value for society and entertain the gaming world as well. He believes that Salaam will enlighten today’s teens when they become the next generation of policymakers.

“When they’re making policy, they will all already understand what refugees’ face, just through playing my game.” Shared Mayen. “That’s actually how we change the world and how we can be able to use the industry for good.”