HALIFAX — African Union peacekeepers in Somalia could soon be training on a new computer game designed by students at Dalhousie University in Halifax.
The game presents interactive scenarios for peacekeepers who encounter child soldiers.
It's based on a training manual issued by Dalhousie's Romeo Dallaire Child Soldier Initiative meant to help peacekeepers communicate with child soldiers without provoking confrontation.
Josh Boyter, who works with the Dallaire initiative, says the game is a way of bringing a measure of reality to concepts contained in the written manual.
Mimi Cahill, one of the informatics students who developed the game over three semesters, says it provides a flexible training tool that can be used by peacekeepers in the field by using a USB stick.
Cahill says although the current game has been designed for Somalia it can be easily adapted for situations that may arise in other peacekeeping missions around the world.
