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Phone games put Colombia’s indigenous cultures in palm of children’s hands

In an uncomplicated wooden hut on the Caribbean beach, a fresh girl sits within the feet of her grandmother, that’s crocheting a brightly coloured shoulder bag whose intricate design draws to the mythology from the Wayuu people.

It’s the opening scene with a smartphone game that seeks to educate Colombian children regarding their country’s endangered indigenous cultures.

Some 3.4% of your Colombia’s population is associated with 87 different indigenous groups that speak 71 languages.

Battle for the mother land: indigenous people of Colombia fighting for his or her lands

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But experts warn why these diverse cultures are in probability of dying out, threatened by global warming and violent armed groups operating in isolated regions a state have not reached. The National Indigenous Organisation of Colombia (Onic) estimates that 35 ethnic groups have reached chance of physical and cultural extermination.

“We are dying C literally and culturally,” said Rosita Iguarn, a pacesetter of a Wayuu community in La Guajira, a dusty peninsula about the Caribbean coast, where three children die daily of malnutrition.

“We happen to be abandoned via the government,” said Iguarn. “Maybe a game this way might help people understand more details on us C maybe it can even bring some tourists.”

The games, intended for iOS and Android devices, challenge players to discover the languages and cultures on the country’s indigenous groups, which vary from farming communities from the northern Darin jungle to nomadic hunter-gatherers from the Amazon.

Known collectively as Ancient Wisdom, the games specified for by Colombia Games, a Bogot-based developer, when using the input associated with a team of anthropologists and environmental scientists.

The games narrate indigenous creation stories, and players must solve puzzles and draw the wildlife that populate indigenous myths.

“From 1 day to an alternative these cultures could possibly be lost,” said Juan Nates, the CEO of Colombia Games, which recently relaunched the games. “When we started this project, I assumed there are 3-4 indigenous tribes; it was a surprise to learn just how many you’ll find C and the way little we realize about the subject.”

The project was funded through the Sura Foundation, an academic subsidiary within the Sura banking group. The Sura Foundation in addition sent about 200 teachers to schools to coach children about endangered cultures C though Iguarn observes which the games are unavailable to many people indigenous children since several do not own smartphones.

For Nates, raising awareness is key to preserving at-risk indigenous cultures. “People can’t bother about something, can’t want to do something, whenever they haven’t heard of it,” he said. “It comfortable to wear to aid achievable.”

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