This initiative draws on the potential of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to educate as they entertain - with the interactive nature of the experience being a key strategy.

In the game, which is free to download in English or Kiswahili (click here), players choose from different options as 2 male and 2 female characters embark on relationships. As part of the instructions, a player is informed that "you can play the game as many times as you want, and each time have a different experience by making different decisions. See how your choices change the course of events...and the lives of the 4 characters." Youth are, that is, challenged to ask questions as they try out different relationships and situations. The idea is that - whereas it may not be possible to go back and change the course of events in "real life" - such freedom of choice is possible in the context of a computer game. The hope is that, by participating in such an experience, albeit "virtual", youth can develop the decision-making skills they need to take control of their relationships/lives.

HIV/AIDS, Youth.

The UN estimates that approximately 80% of all young people do not know how to protect themselves from AIDS. Africa accounts for most of the world's 2.3 million children who are HIV-positive. More than 100 million people speak Swahili across east African countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).