Why I'm Creating a Game About Refugees

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Dear friend,

The day before yesterday, I shared with you that I'm crowdfunding my video game, "Musa- a brother's story" but do you know why I'm creating the game?

You may wonder, why refugees and why a video game at all?

Well, let me tell you the story of how this began.

In 2014, I took a trip to Turkey. It was a difficult time in my life and I wanted to do something meaningful to re-discover myself. I'm sure you understand. So I went on a volunteering trip to an organic farm in a small village in the North of Turkey. It was a life-changing experience to work as a farmer and be close to nature.

But another life-changing event was waiting for me in the city of Istanbul. I went there for a few days to see the main tourist spots but what I was really struck by instead was the enormous amount of refugee children on the streets. The refugee crisis was not as talked about then, and this was shocking to me!

I saw children everywhere and sometimes full families living under a bridge. All of these children were just trying to make ends meet. There were children entertaining onlookers by playing instruments on Istiklal street. There were children begging for a pilaf to share with their family in Taksim square.

There were children selling small trinkets to tourists to make some money.

I still remember the child who followed me for around 800 meters because I had given all my cash to his friend, and didn't have any cash (literally) to give to him. He was barefoot and it was a cold October.

When I came back to Bahrain, I started donated regularly to the cause but it was not much and I knew that I had it in me to do more. A nagging feeling stuck with me since then and I don't remember how, but one day I decided that I can help become a tool of awareness and empathy by sharing the stories of these children. So I decided to create "Musa- a brother's story" in 2017. I had 3 weeks to create a prototype to exhibit at IGN and I went at it.

I had been making video games for a few years now and I put all my effort into this, creating the 3d models, animations, writing a lot of the code, designing the first level, and even creating music for it. When I first showcased it, the encouragement and reaction of testers further validated my idea that not only would this be a great work of art, but that it can create an impact.

So here we are. Now, Musa has become a huge part of my life and I believe everything in life including my business experience, my artistic ability and my love for video games has come together to do what I believe to be my life's work.

But I can't do it alone anymore, and so I need your help. I need you to commit at least $10 on day one of the crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo on the 6th of May. I'm counting on you.

Looking forward to your generous support,

Saba