‘See through the stereotypes, which were made due to lack of information,’ Richard Burr, an American businessman and politician, once said. This can be applied in all aspects, for example, little to no sexual and reproductive health information may lead individuals to neglect their basic rights, undermining their control over decisions concerning their sexual life and health in general. And this is what motivated Mick Ndayishimiye and his colleagues to establish Urukundo Initiative in 2019. According to the initiative’s website, the name ‘Urukundo’ was inspired from the first product, the Urukundo Board Game & Information Package, which is a sexual and reproductive health (SRH) availing information board game that aims to provide a fun and friendly, safe, trustworthy and evidence-based SRH information to young people in the Rwandan community. Ndayishimiye, co-founder of the initiative, is a student at University of Rwanda’s College of Medicine and Health Sciences in his last year. He describes himself as an advocate for equal quality healthcare for Rwandans, regardless of one’s background. In his own words, he had many dreams before finding his calling now. “Growing up, I would fantasise about many careers, for example being a professional footballer, pilot, doctor, and many more. But most of the time, I found myself engaged in activities that required helping the less privileged,” he says, adding, “I ended up being drawn to medicine. When my performance in school made it possible, I went for it.” The game board Ndayishimiye says that he was driven by the situation in the country regarding teen pregnancy. “Together with my team (five of us) we got the idea after some school-related research we conducted. We found that many pregnancies among teens were a result of lack of the right information, especially in remote areas. “One of the teen mothers we once interviewed shared that her boyfriend back then had told her she wouldn’t get pregnant since it was her first time having sex, saying that ‘virgins don’t get pregnant’. Another one shared that her ex-boyfriend had told her that some sex positions block pregnancy—which of course she fell for and got pregnant at 16. Photos by Will Mucyo “We had to come up with something that could provide the youth with the much-needed information, all the while keeping it fun since our targeted group is mostly young people. We came up with the ‘Urukundo’ board game, created a prototype, and presented it to friends and family for support. We also pitched it to different stakeholders like IBS Rwanda Startups Incubation and Acceleration, Social Impact Incubator, and The Ministry of Youth and Culture, where we acquired the funds to establish it,” he says. ‘Urukundo’, he says, is a board and cards-based game which allows one to have fun while being educated. It is meant to promote discussion among young people/players, and facilitate a parent to initiate a conversation with their teen child. “In the feedback we receive, parents say that these kinds of things provide a starting point for them to have a conversation around sexual reproductive health with their adolescents,” he says. Challenges and way forward “Conducting this during the pandemic was not an easy thing to do, but we figured a way to play the game, and at the same time, adhere to the measures in place to curb the spread of the virus. But we are looking for ways to start a mobile app for the board game. The board game provides safe, trustworthy and evidence-based SRH information “The biggest challenge will be to reach as many people as we can. We want to deliver safe sexual reproductive health and rights information to as many youth as possible, locally and internationally. We are grateful for the media’s contribution in letting people know as it is crucial, and we call for more participation,” Ndayishimiye says. The Urukundo board game goes for Rwf20, 000 and can be found in any library in Kigali, particularly Caritas and Ikirezi libraries. Online orders can also be made on their website or via social media direct message with free delivery. They can be contacted on 0786703384.
