Posted on 07/22/2005 8:34:07 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - With the spin of a numbered wheel, an Afghan child might land in an ambush by turbaned gunmen. Another turn could lead a young player to the safety of a health clinic or classroom.
They are all scenarios 10- to 14-year-olds must confront in The Road to Peace, a colorful new board game unveiled Thursday by the United Nations in an effort to educate local youngsters about Afghanistan's troubled past and its hopes for the future.
Some 10,000 copies of the game are being handed out nationwide to war-affected children, former child soldiers and refugee families, said Adrian Edwards, spokesman for the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.
The game, which comes in both the local Dari and Pashtun languages, "aims to teach children about the key events in the peace process and reconstruction of Afghanistan," Edwards told a news conference.
The foldable cardboard game is illustrated with a swirling path from one corner labeled The Past - with tanks, explosions and a Taliban-style execution - to The Future, which shows cheery family scenes, factories and a sweeping blue river.
Along the way, up to six players take turns spinning a numbered wheel and moving improvised game pieces - a button, twig or coin will do - to corresponding numbers on the path representing events or trends in Afghanistan's recent past.
If a player lands on a negative scenario, such as young girls being turned away from a school by a member of the hardline Taliban regime, which was ousted by U.S.-backed forces in 2001, they must move their game piece backward toward The Past.
Landing on a positive scenario, such as the signing of the Bonn agreement in 2001 that established a political process and transitional government, lets a player advance toward the brighter future.
"It highlights issues such as the environment, health and education," Edwards added.
Martin Battersby, an officer for the U.N. Office of Communication and Public Information, said the world body started developing the game about a year and a half ago and is trying to distribute it through institutions such as schools.
The game should prove useful for the U.N. children's agency, which works with out-of-school and unemployed young people and former child soldiers in Afghanistan, said Edward Carwardine, a UNICEF communications officer.
Most of those children "have had quite negative experiences of life up until now," he said.
"This is a really good tool to help the discussion about possible choices - do you join one of the militias or do you get an education and get a job?" Carwardine asked.
The Road to Peace could send encouraging messages to Afghan children and underscore "how the positive choices actually make you a better citizen - you can earn more money, you can be more productive, you can support your family more effectively," he said.
The move comes as Afghanistan, still emerging from decades of civil war, prepares for historic parliamentary elections in September and grapples with an unprecedented rise in violence in recent months.
I wonder what it'll go for on eBay?
Since it's a UN game, dead Jews count as moving towards The Future.
*shudders*
I tried to joke about it in this response, then couldn't think of anything not horrible. Damn the UN.
Still, it's good they are teaching kids about peace. Hopefully it will be enough. I doubt it, but maybe...
Go back two spaces.. You are attacked by Yankee Imperialist Pigs trying to sell you Time Shares on Miami Beach
I know what you're saying.
At first, I rolled my eyes...and then I thought "Well, maybe...just maybe if it convinces just a few kids to start thinking in peaceful ways, it might not be too bad".
The UN ....TEACHING about PEACE?????.....oh, yeah, sure....half the Tyrants of the world belong to the UN....their DEFINITION of Peace is a little different than ours.....what a crock.
As long as they end the session with the sign of the cross on their foreheads it could be good.
Yep. At the very least, I don't think this can hurt us.
Watch those words come back to haunt me in a spectacular way.
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