What would you do, where would you go?
This Friday 25 October, the pilot Escape Route X will be launched at Deltion College, Zwolle.
Escape Route X is the title of an educational multimedia and cutting-edge social game. Students from the Social Work programme will engage in an experience exercise by stepping briefly ‘ in a playful manner ’ into the shoes of a refugee.
4 groups will be made to play the game simultaneously over 90 minutes. In the game, students assume the identities of fictional refugees: Chin Ho from North Korea (Asia), Ali Osman from Sudan (North Africa), Jimpa from Tibet (Asia) and Jamilah from Syria (Middle East). This identity determines their starting point, means of transport and home situation, thus their place at the gaming table.
To properly get into character, players are given a passport. This passport contains their character’s brief life story and reason for departure/flight. Although the characters are fictional, the stories are penned from collected stories of real refugees.
4 Game distributors are responsible for issuing the game passports, situation cards and start/travel money but also act as a question guide for the players.
These game handlers are experts by experience who have a flight past themselves. Courtesy of the Foundation Voor Elkaar, Zwolle, the following expert by experience will assist me: Noor Ba- Hashwan (23) from Yemen, Abdullah al Mohamed (25) from Syria, Hasmik Karapetyan (32) from Armenia. And Mustafa Ahmed (22) from Somalia by means of the Samen Omhoog foundation.
Afterwards, they will also give an insight into their own migration stories and answer questions.
By doing so, we hope to give more insight into refugee issues here and in the country of origin, in times of polarisation and increasing intolerance. At the same to give it a face and a personal story.
We would like to contribute to a more open attitude towards newcomers.
This pilot was created in collaboration with Petra Turan, with support from the municipality of Zwolle. Petra is Senior Lecturer at Deltion College/ Visual artist, MSc Design Driven Innovation/ Moderator eTwinning group and IVET Community/Blended Coach)
More information about the game Escape Route X can be found here: https://maritotto.nl/escape-route-x/
This game was developed by me and artist Mark van Enk in 2011 entitled Flight 050511 for the Liberation Day festival in Zwolle. I then further developed it into a full-fledged board game. With the help of Codename Future, Emiel Sikkema and teacher Wim Hilberdink and his medialogue students at SG Thorbecke Zwolle, I conducted research to optimise the game and make it interesting for a young audience. I then further developed it into what it is today with input from Jolan van de Water, Patrick Pelman, Stan Vergeer and Petra Turan.
