Ayiti: Learning About Living in Haiti

My friend, Sheila,  who always seems to find cool stuff, told me about this fun, eye-opening game that might be a good end-of-year activity for students. Sponsored by Unicef and Microsoft, Ayiti: The Cost of Life shows students how difficult it can be to live in a developing country.  Students are given a family  five they have to manage through work, school and farming. They can also choose the mode they want to play in, whether their goal is happiness, wealth, education or money.   I managed to drive my poor family into abject poverty and debt.

It's especially cool that the game was developed by a group of high-school students at Global Kids, with some help from the people at Gamelab.

And, personally, I think any way we can raise students' global awareness, their understanding of how entrenched poverty limits opportunity in so many countries (including our own),  can only be a good thing.