Meerkat helps kids avoid sex-abuse sharks
WHEN Rob van Vuuren started talking to a meerkat glove puppet in a Cape Town coffee shop, Karin Stierlin knew she had found the star of her new computer game.
Now the comedian is the voice of JJ, a meerkat and the central character in the game that helps children between seven and 11 recognise and deal with sexual abuse.
The game, SafeBodyLand, is ready to be piloted in Stierlin’s native Switzerland, and she hopes to roll it out to schools across South Africa and beyond.
Stierlin teamed up with former students at the Cape Town digital arts academy Friends of Design to create SafeBodyLand after Swiss designers struggled to translate her ideas onto the computer screen.
In the game, JJ guides children as they explore various “islands” that raise red flags about sexual abuse.
The concept was tested in a workshop with children who were encouraged to build their own islands.
“We are not supposed to mention any sexual organs or show them,” Stierlin said. “So we talk more about islands and your private sphere and that no one is allowed on your island if you don’t want [that].”
Stierlin said sex abuse was difficult to tackle in her home country because “people often say: ‘We don’t want to talk about this.’ South Africa is much more aware and openminded. [Collaborating] was the best thing we could do.”
Van Vuuren, who has a fiveyear-old daughter, said: “Consider the statistics, not only globally but specifically in this country . . . It feels like out-andout war on women and [girls].
“Speaking as a dad, I know too many women close to me who have suffered sex abuse to not be deeply emotionally invested in the issue, so I felt like that was just something I wanted to be a part of.”