Here's a blurb about the team. Hit the read more button below to read the full story about their experience making the game, and how the game works. It really is great.

We are the Camibians. Nine Canadians, and nine Namibians chosen to be a part of a Canada World Youth cultural exchange, and community development program. This program promotes informal learning, and the development of active and model citizens during its six month duration. We will be spending three months in Powell River, B.C. (where we are currently) living in the community with host families and running various projects. In December, we will be going to Gobabis, Namibia where we will do the same in this community until the end of the program in March. Winning the BIG game contest has given our team the opportunity to explore the potential of the group. We have the ability to do GREAT things, and will use the 5000$ to help us along the way. We intend to invest the prize money in sustainable programs within both communities in an attempt to promote the existence of such programs to continue on even after we have left. Furthermore, we intend to run a pilot project of “Free Trade” within our current community, in order to evaluate its success. Thank you for helping us dream BIG, and know that the money won will be spent in a very positive and productive way. Thank You.

We are eighteen youth from Canada and Namibia who were given the opportunity to participate in the BIG game design contest. This seemed like an overwhelming idea at first. Not only was the idea of bringing eighteen different voices and ideas together in a coherent way intimidating, but the criteria for the game itself proved to be very difficult to meet. Create a game that is fun and playable, while expanding social networks, and including EVERYONE. At first, it took a while to get the project moving at all. When it finally began to move, the group went in circles with many contrasting ideas. Understanding that it was very counter productive to be working in this way, a few people took the project on, and began adding structure to our group brainstorming sessions and discussion. As a starting point, the group members were asked to share favorite games with one another, as we began to identify the reasons that these particular games were fun, focusing on the reoccurring ideas/themes.

From this point we began to discuss the limiting aspects of games remembering that this is a BIG game we are designing; a game that must be inclusive to EVERYONE. Although some group members were more interested in this task than others, everyone ran into the same wall when sharing ideas: How can we create a game that is playable by everyone? Is this even possible?

Having identified this as the main issue, we soon realized that any such game should eliminate the idea of competition and defeat of others – eliminating a need for advanced skill. Furthermore, our game could not require much strategy or complexity in order to suit the needs of all levels of understanding. The game must be simple and understood by all. This is when the group started throwing around ideas of love and kindness. Love; a language that is simple and universal.

Understanding that we must utilize this valuable tool, we ran into our next conflict. “Is it possible to run a playable game based on the notion of love and kindness?” Although we strayed away from this idea, we kept coming back to it as we searched for fair and equal playing ground to all. This idea stuck. Through our game we will utilize the ability of loving and kind acts as being a universal language, which everyone can understand. At the same time, it is a tool which can be used to affect EVERYONE involved in a positive way.

So, we tried applying this idea to existing games that we all enjoyed. Eventually, we applied it to a game that we were playing in the group at the time called “Assassin”; a game where individuals are secretly assigned to carry out the “murder” of the designated target using a designated object and location. We decided that instead of “murdering” each other (an idea which sounds rather harsh outside of its context here) we should try to apply the ideas of love and kindness which we had discussed. Doing something nice to someone instead of doing something solely in defeat of them, is so simple an idea that it seems to be overlooked. Understanding the solidity in this approach, we gave birth to the basis of our game; being productive and kind in the defeat of others. This would allow people to interact on a very friendly and productive level, as it seems to be very difficult for acts of kindness not to be well received.

Now, the group established that the objective for players in the game would be to claim an assigned target player by carrying out a desire which the assigned target player has. But, if players are interacting with people that they may have never met before (since the game aims to expand people’s social circles) there must be a way for players to designate individual desires. This is where we came up with the idea of using an online network (an idea that was brought up earlier in the group) as a tool needed to identify players and their desires, to the other players within a common playing network. Each player will have a profile on the network stating 3 desires.

From here, we began to brainstorm ways of making the desires to be carried out possible to everyone. We began to think of situations that would segregate certain groups of people and decided to come up with a guideline for establishing wishes; in order to facilitate the needs of everyone. With eighteen voices to help shape the criteria, this is what we were able to come up with as guidelines for the three wishes: one must be physically challenging (in order to cater to those who may be mentally challenged), one must be mentally challenging (in order to cater to those who may be physically challenged), and the last one is somewhat of a “wildcard”.

Now, we got into the issue of money, realizing that money may also be a segregating factor to players within the game. Thanks to a few people in the group who feel very strongly about sustainable living, we decided it best to force players to attain any necessary goods using alternative methods to money. This helps to enforce everyone playing from the same field, as well as promote sustainability, and creativity within communities and players.

The group also spent some time trying to come up with a driving force for the players of the game; what will drive people to play? There must be some end result, and we came up with one that allows recognition of the winner, as well as participating organizations, and the community. The winner will receive a small bursary which is to be used towards the community in a very productive way (this will be monitored by the game master, and or organizing body) Furthermore the winner will get not one, but all 3 of their wishes fulfilled while having the satisfaction of fulfilling others wishes along the way.

Essentially, the group began very confused and overwhelmed with the task at hand, unsure of how completion was even possible. Once a few bright ideas were put forth by several candidates, the group as a whole was able to evolve and develop the ideas being presented into the finished product: Free Trade. We managed this by installing a structure that ensured everyone’s voice was heard. Group members were all given the ability to put forth ideas anonymously on paper, which were later shared with the rest of the group in open discussion. Based on the suggestions put forth, the group arrived at our conclusions through debate, and the majority voting process.
The title, for example, was decided upon in this way. FREE TRADE was a name idea put forth by an anonymous member, and unanimously chosen among the group as the official title to our BIG game. Why? Because we wanted to change the perception of what FREE TRADE is. From an economist point of view, the international free trade allows large corporations to gain disproportionate market power because they don’t need to pay taxes or tariffs to local authorities. Since our game is not linked with money, we wanted to show that free trade can be something really positive; something that allows kindness, selflessness, and inclusion rather than unfair and exploitative labor. We wanted to give this term-which has negative connotations-new meaning. Some of the other ideas which were not used as the main title were used as slogans for the game.

This experience forced the group to think “outside of the box”. At first many participants were putting forth generic board game playing ideas, only adapted to a larger scale. However, meeting ALL of the set criteria for the design forced us to think very differently and unconventionally leading us to the core of our game: getting players to be productive and kind in the defeat of others. In this sense, we invented a new form of game play with FREE TRADE.

In addition, the process forced us to consider the role of money in inclusiveness, realizing that money must be eradicated from a game which is open to each and EVERYONE.

And so, using our eighteen voices as an advantage, we managed to come up with a game which the entire group developed together– there were many ideas as well as opinions used to get the game to its final stage. Creating this game forced many people to think outside of their usual conventional limitations expanding the possibilities for evaluating and reflecting material in the future. Also, winning this game has impacted our group as it has reminded us of the potential which we all have. Winning the BIG game has shown us how BIG we are, and how much BIGGER we have the potential to be.

How to play Free Trade: one world, one voice, one game.

The Idea: connect people
spread love
fulfill desires
explore and discover
new and creative
achieving big things through small wishes

The Rules: commit to the game
do not discriminate against other players
game fee: get two people minimum involved.
ENJOY!!!

1) Get Involved: Entrance "fee" to join the game is to bring two new players into the game. Post personal profile and include three personal wishes (which must follow criteria) on the game network. Receive secret ID tag specific to you.

Wish Criteria:
one must be physically challenging (teach me how to play soccer)
one must be physically challenging (write a poem for me)
the last one is your “WILD” wish (a wish of your choosing)

*Wishes must not be illegal or sex related, nor can they put players in danger. Players are not allowed to spend money in attaining wishes; anything required must be attained in a creative way. Wishes must be realistic.

2) Target: You will be assigned a secret "target" within your playing network. Your goal now is to choose one of your target's three wishes and fulfill it. Furthermore this must be done spontaneously- they must not know that you are planning to fulfill a wish. If you can successfully complete one of your targets wishes, they are eliminated form the game, and you receive verification in the form of their secret ID tag. Now, you assume the target of the defeated player, in order to continue and repeat this process of elimination and fulfilling wishes. At some point you will either…

LOOSE: through getting a wish fulfilled, you will give up your target and ID tag. The game is not over here. You can sign up for the next game, and monitor the process of the current game through staying updated on-line.

OR

WIN: though attaining yourself as a target you get your three wishes fulfilled, and receive a bursary to put towards the community. Also, the winner receives notoriety within the community as well as the satisfaction of fulfilling others’ wishes.

Larger Impacts : expand social networks and understanding, connect to the larger world around you, encourage the reuse of retired items, promote sustainable consumption habits, encourage growth of human generosity, utilize pre-existing organizations, businesses, and databases to exceed their current involvement in the community, promote creativity, etc.

Recently my wife introduced me to a book written by Myla and Jon Kabat-Zinn, called Everyday Blessings: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting. I have only read the first few chapters, but thus far find it particularly insight-filled. Here is one paragraph from the chapter on the importance of nurturing sovereignty in our children:

"For one, the honoring of a child's sovereignty means acknowledging to ourselves the reality of those very stages and temperaments. It might mean that the messages an infant gives us are responded to because we are the baby's major interface with the world. If the baby cries, we pick her up, we hold her, we move in with our presence, our listening. We attempt to provide comfort and a sense of well-being. By doing so, we honor her power to have the world respond to her, we accord her that respect and teach her that the world does respond, and that there is a place for her, that she belongs. And we do this as an intentional practice, whether we feel like it at any given moment or not."

While I'll admit to not reading this entire document, it looks very good from my initial scan. It is meant as a resource manual produced by Best Start: Ontario’s Maternal, Newborn and Early Child Development Resource Centre in 2006. Here is a paragraph from the Executive Summary:

"All people benefit from a sense of belonging, to their families, culture and communities. It is especially important in the case of parents caring for young children. Parents need to feel supported by family, friends, the community and by service providers. Aboriginal people, through a long history of assimilation and discrimination, may not have this sense of belonging. This may impact their health and sense of worth, and may result in feelings of despair and hopelessness. There are many things that service providers can do to foster a sense of belonging in Aboriginal families with young children, connecting parents to the information and supports that they need in a respectful and caring manner, and acknowledging their strengths."

Here is a link to the pdf A Sense of Belonging: Supporting Healthy Child Development in Aboriginal Families

© Copyright 2000 - 2007 The Hindu

"NEWS about school-related violence, be it vandalism or violent death have been coming in from various parts of [India] with alarming regularity. It is vital to look at the risk factors contributing to violence and discuss preventive strategies."

Here is one of their prescribed preventive strategies that I really like: "Unconditional positive regard: To nurture a sense of belonging to the family, parents need to show unconditional positive regard to their children. They should express love to their children for what they are. Conditional love ("You are my son only if you come within the first five ranks" and assorted variants of the same message) wrecks a child's sense of belonging and self-esteem. A teacher who expresses unconditional positive regard evokes positive behaviour and interest in students than one who relies on threats and punishments. For example, class XI A in one school was notorious for being `unruly and unmanageable'. A new teacher joined the school and gradually Class XI A was seen to be quiet and well behaved during his period. By the time they reached Class XII, the class was quoted as a role model." ...

Risk factors

Partiality and Victimisation: Some teachers classify their students into `good', `average' and `bad'. Blatant partiality towards `good' students causes frustration and anger in others. The `bad' students are often victimised for any anonymous acts of indiscipline. The labels stick. One student of std. VIII resolved to shed his `bad' label in the next year. But to his dismay, he found that his previous class teacher had taken the trouble of briefing his new class teacher.

Exposure to violence: Exposure to violence both off and on the screen can breed violence. Students exposed to domestic violence either as a victim or as an observer are more prone to violence. Corporal punishment by teachers conveys the message that it is legitimate to hit someone if they make a mistake. When the student feels that another student has erred, he will resort to violence. Media also has a significant influence on youth behaviour. The incidence of suicide climbed in Germany following a TV series about the various modes of suicide. Glorification of violence in movies and TV programmes like WWF entice students to mimic the violent behaviour.

Being teased /bullied: Students who are victims of bullying could become violent in an act of revenge. In most firearm incidences in U.S. schools, it is a victim of bullying who pulled the trigger. In India, firearms are controlled and thankfully, such incidences are negligible. But it is worth remembering that victims of bullying are emotional landmines.

Learning as a burden: School and parents put undue pressure on students to deliver marks in the board exams. This is epitomised by certain residential schools, which have a daily schedule from 5.00 a.m. to midnight. Some children burn out. Some score high marks but at a tremendous emotional cost. One `successful' student asked, "Is there a medicine to forget whatever I went through in the last three years?"

Prevention

Two main strategies would help in preventing violence. First is reduction or rectification of risk factors. Second is promotion of protective factors. Protective factors not only protect but also act as a buffer in the presence of risk factors.

A confiding relationship: This relationship has to be nurtured by the parents by listening to the child whenever he/she has something to say. By actively listening and offering comments, the parent encourages the child to communicate with ease. A student in a confiding relationship is able to discuss any issue, including frustration, sadness and anger with parents. Counsellors and empathetic teachers can fulfil this role at school. Every school should have trained counsellors. Minor issues can be sorted out early, before they intensify.

Unconditional positive regard: To nurture a sense of belonging to the family, parents need to show unconditional positive regard to their children. They should express love to their children for what they are. Conditional love ("You are my son only if you come within the first five ranks" and assorted variants of the same message) wrecks a child's sense of belonging and self-esteem. A teacher who expresses unconditional positive regard evokes positive behaviour and interest in students than one who relies on threats and punishments. For example, class XI A in one school was notorious for being `unruly and unmanageable'. A new teacher joined the school and gradually Class XI A was seen to be quiet and well behaved during his period. By the time they reached Class XII, the class was quoted as a role model.

Self Esteem: High self esteem guards against violence, emotional problems and suicide. A student's self esteem can be improved by unconditional positive regard by one significant adult (parents /teachers) and encouragement and opportunity to excel in some area. Every student should be recognised for his/her unique strength in whichever area he/she chose to focus on. It need not be restricted to academics alone. It could be sports, music, arts, writing, anything.

School connectedness: This implies a sense of belonging to the school. It gives the students part of their identity and improves their self-esteem. The student's perception that a teacher is impartial and fair, is caring and compassionate, is available and shows love to all students unconditionally helps in shaping the student's sense of belonging to the school. Parents should also have a sense of belonging to the school. PTA meetings in the true sense can foster this. Most schools have sham PTA meetings where parents are expected to meet individual teachers to discuss the marks scored in the recent tests.

Coping skills: Participation in sports and extra curricular activities help in improving one's coping skills and guards against emotional problems and violence. Coping skills can also be taught.

Conflict resolution and anger management: Conflicts are a natural part of life and occur in schools too. At times, minor conflicts between students lead to violence. Students can be trained in alternate ways of resolving conflicts like negotiation and mediation. Students can also be trained in channelising anger in socially appropriate ways.

The curriculum has provisions to impart these skills. But, in most schools this time is stolen for other `important' subjects. In one school, the Physics teacher walked into a value education class for std. XI students. "Here is a summary of your value education sessions for the next two years." He paused and said dramatically, "Be good" and then announced, "From now on, Value education periods will be Physics periods".

Joy of learning: Schools should provide an atmosphere where learning a new concept or learning a new way of doing a particular task brings joy.

Parents too should ensure that their children enjoy learning. Once learning becomes a joyful activity, students would look forward to being in school and their sense of belonging would be high. Their vulnerability to violence would come down.

The author is a Chennai-based Consultant Psychiatrist. E-mail: mohanpsychiatry@yahoo.co.in

Some interesting commentary from Dr Justus H Lewis, PhD over at Transformasia:

I was reminded of the importance of a sense of belonging last week when I attended a professional development workshop, Psyche and Dialogue, presented by Professor Andrew Samuels, one of whose passions is the connection between therapy and politics. His latest book – for those who are interested – is Politics on the Couch: Citizenship and the Internal World. I recommend it.

A colleague shared how over the years, as he had worked with groups of dysfunctional teenagers, he had found that if he could hold the group together long enough for these troubled youngsters to feel that they belonged somewhere, then many of them, through making friends and finding personal support from within the group, were able with minimal assistance to resolve the issues that has previously disrupted their lives.

As I reflected on the power of a sense of belonging, I also recalled many conversations at the opposite end of the spectrum, with people who felt marginal in a variety of ways, never quite belonging anywhere. Typical of these would be people like myself who were born in one country – in my case, Scotland – who have settled in another, and who have spent most of their working lives in a number of different countries.

While these people are usually very self-confident and flexible, their sense of belonging tends to be tenuous.

Many of us derive our sense of belonging from our families. But in these days of far-flung family groupings, where face-to-face meetings are a rarity, the family can seem more of a fiction than a fact.

Another important source of a sense of belonging is the workplace. After all, we do spend the majority of our waking lives at work. But with the increase in part-time, casual, contract work, redundancy, mergers and downsizing, work can serve to remind us that the future may be unsettling and uncertain. We may end up feeling that life inevitably has to be ‘every man for himself’.

And yet, work is a collaborative effort. The workplace involves teams of people working together to achieve common goals, even though they may not feel personally involved in any way with these goals. This often leads to stress and conflict – conflict that may not even be acknowledged, because it is taken for granted as a ‘fact of life’ at work.

Professor Samuels recalled his experience of being invited to work in Israel with Israeli and Palestinian post-graduate students, students with totally opposite and deeply conflicting viewpoints. Professor Samuels was interested to find that when he abandoned traditional approaches to conflict resolution, and tried a different approach that focused on the ‘style’ in which he observed the students dealing with conflict, he found ways that made it easier for the students to talk to and understand the other person’s point of view. While this didn’t resolve their conflicts, it did provide a path to a deeper appreciation of the other side’s story.

This reminded me of the power of relationship intelligence in the form of the Strength Deployment Inventory (SDI).

The SDI is a simple yet powerful instrument that enables people to understand both their own and other people’s motivational values – and consequently – preferred relating styles.

It is widely used in the workplace to assist teams to function more effectively and productively. As with any such personality assessment tool, it is a map and not the territory. People are vastly more complex and interesting than any personality assessment instrument can show. Nevertheless, the SDI has several very useful features that the people who use it find of enormous benefit in helping them to understand where their co-workers are coming from and to avoid unwarranted conflict. The SDI enables people to acknowledge, respect and honour differences; it gives people a language in which to talk about these differences in an objective, non-judgmental way; and following from this, it provides helpful strategies to prevent and resolve conflict in the workplace.

How it works is that the ‘score’ reflects back to a person both how they are motivated in ‘normal’ situations when things are going well, and how they are motivated in situations of conflict when things are not going well. In some people, there is a vast difference and this can be quite a revelation.

So what are the possibilities? We know that different people can do the same thing for very different reasons and this is one of the keys to a better understanding of oneself and others and hence an increased ability to have a sense of belonging and recognition of common purpose.

The primary motivations are a desire to achieve and get things done, a desire to understand and be fair, and a desire to help and communicate. Part of acknowledging our own and others uniqueness and individual differences is to understand that we are each motivated by a different combination and degree of these factors.