From Powerpoint to a Global Project

From PowerPoint to Global Impact: The Incredible Journey of Love Land

When I first developed Love Land the board game on PowerPoint years ago, I had no idea that I was not only creating a new world on paper but also sketching out the roadmap for a life journey to new shores and dimensions, the size and reach of which I could never have imagined in my wildest dreams.

I originally developed Love Land for my personal use in sex education in Swiss schools because, as a passionate teacher andlearningtherapist, I foundtheavailable teaching materials lacking in innovation, interaction, and originality. The video cassettes (!) from the 80s primarily conveyed one thing: prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, traditional gender roles, and very moralistic and heteronormative notions! Other media, like books and worksheets, were not much better: dripping with text and theory, and at best, sparsely enlivened with occasional illustrations. In short, not what I expected from a broad and inclusive sex education curriculum

On a methodological level, I also missed the playful approach to often taboo topics.

WithLoveLand,Iwantedtocreateaplayful and at the same time safe learning environment where young people could gain an overview of the diversity of sexuality,aswellastolerance,security,and knowledge. The concept seemed to work.

After Love Land became very popular in school classes, more and more teachers also showed interest in this pedagogically practical teaching material, which was ready-to-useand,ontopofthat,alotoffun. Unfortunately, Swiss educational publishers saw things a little differently and showed very little interest in distributing Love Land.

A pity, but not a reason to give up. I took production and distribution into my own hands and sold a good number of Love Land copies in Switzerland. For me, the

potential was thus fulfilled. However, life had other plans for me.

From Orangutans to Young Minds: AnUnexpectedTurninIndonesia. .

.

After resigning from my job at a sex education office, I wantedtoenjoy my welldeservedsabbatical.Avolunteer stint at an orangutan sanctuary in Indonesia was the plan. How didI comeupwiththis ideaback then? I have no clue! I had no special connection to monkeys, nor was Indonesia ever a dream destination of mine…The foundation Paneco based in Switzerland I contacted, unfortunately turned me down

From Jungle Visitor to "Miss Goomi

Goomi": How Love Land

Became a Daily Jungle Ritual

but contacted me again a few days later to offermeapilot projectwithLoveLand –but with Indonesian young Homo sapiens, not orangutans…

Two weeks later, I was on a plane to Medan, not knowingthat this stay wouldbe thekey toahugechangeinmylife. At first, nothing indicated this: Upon arriving in Medan, I was told that none of the 30 schools approached had responded. I was then driven far away from the city to the jungle to the orangutans for two weeks:

There they were again, these creatures that were about to catapult my life in a new direction

.

Thestaffatthelodgeseemedtoknowquite a bit about the newly arriving guest, and it didn’t take long before I was asked one afternoonif I might play LoveLandwith the entire lodge crew. What started as one afternoon turned into a daily, highly enjoyable ritual for all involved – including the orangutan biologist as the translator

The local village school didn’t take long to follow suit and booked a Love Land session, then another, and soon my days werefullybookedwithLoveLandsessions, and my name in the lodge was now "Miss Goomi Goomi" (notably, that’s the name of the condom island in Love Land).

BreakingBarriers:LoveLand’sSuccess in Indonesian Schools. ..

The time in the lodge was followed by equally exciting and wonderful weeks back in Medan, where, miraculously, all the previously contacted schools now expressed interest in our sessions. My biggest concerns – that Love Land, developed for the Swiss school curriculum, might cause conflicts in a Muslim country, that Muslim youth might have completely different questions, or that I, as a European, might not be able to build a

bridge betweentwocultures –proved tobe completely unfounded

The following sessions in the schools were characterized by mutual tolerance, great trust from the young people, teachers, school authorities, and all other involved persons, and above all, by incredible openness and interest from the young people. This is all the more remarkable because, unlike in Switzerland, where school classes have a maximum of 25 students, the schools we visited in Indonesia had up to 60 students. This posedachallengeintermsof thedynamics and moderation of the game, but much more, I was concerned about ensuring a safe learning environment for all present

I had my doubts about whether individual students in such a large group would find thecouragetoask questions or answer the questions in the game loudly and clearly. I had once again underestimated the potential of Love Land andplayful learning: The saying "Playful learning builds bridges betweencultures" hits thenail on thehead.

Playful learning has a unique ability to connect people from different cultural backgrounds. And playful learning in a large group has enormous potential –it not only facilitates the learning process but also promotes collaboration, creativity, and social skills. In a dynamic group environment, participants can learn from each other, motivate each other, and make deeper learning experiences through shared experiences. Moreover, it can help

to break down inhibitions and create a positive learning atmosphere

Andsoour sessions werecorrespondingly open: there was laughter, questions, cheers, and learning – and we’re talking about sensitive and globally tabooed sex education content

From Startup Struggles to Strategic Partnerships: The Evolution of Love Land

After these weeks in Indonesia, the decision grew in me to make Love Land accessible to young people globally – but how?A board game is neither scalable nor

can it be regularly updated or expanded without logistical chaos

. Highly motivated, I attended a startup course in Zurich: I wanted to be wellprepared for my future self-employment as a hopefully successful learning game

Jp pitching at the ETH Zurich

developer. My level of motivation quickly plummetedafter I presentedmy ideato the lecturers of this startup training. Surrounded by startup innovations like a computer for super-precision spinal surgeries or a locally acting cancer drug, my modest innovation of a gamified method for the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and tolerance education towards gender diversity received devastating criticism from almost all the lecturers

Almost all. There was this JP Vuilleumier Startup pioneer, pitch master, and known for his uncompromising feedback, I braced myselfforhiscritique. Longstoryshort:Out of his genuine interest in a global solution for a global problem came a first meeting outside the course, then his occasional support, the shared passion for South Africa, his growing capacities, and the conviction that with Love Land, we could give something back to society, and finally, a shared personal Love Land.

FromFrustration

to

Fulfillment

. . JP was involved from the start in the transformation of the Love Land board game.

Transforming Love Land: Mastery with Loud Rabbits' Game Design Expertise.

Weboth agreed that we wanted to develop aLoveLand app. In aslightly different form thantheboardgame,ofcourse,whichlived from group dynamics, but it couldn’t bethat difficult to implement our already welldeveloped idea of an exciting island world, where the gamer could discover, solve realisticchallenges, andlearn, withagame designteam.That’swhat theyaretherefor,

after all. .

We believed until the first game design team we had meticulously instructed presented us with a quiz with an island background.

Westillbelieveduntilthesecondteamtried to sell us a moss-green pond with water lilies instead of sea and islands, and a hummingbird in a scout uniform with deafening whistles as the game tutor

We still somehow believed until the third team alone preached to me that I had to learntotrust ateam. What that meant was: Stay out of game development, we are the experts.

BAM!

We no longer believed. We were on the verge of givingupwhenwe decided to give one last chance to a South African team called Loud Rabbits

In short: the first meeting with the game design leader lasted 10 minutes with the result of an intensive collaboration desired by both sides – content meets design –actually logical, right? ?

FourYears of Growth: Celebrating Love Land's Journey and Our Incredible Team

Since that meeting, four years have passed. Our LoudRabbits team consists of highly motivated and extremely talented younggamedesignerswhohavemadeour ideaintowhatwealwayswanted:Aglobally accessible and safe learning world that uses the enormous potential of playful learning to make knowledge and skills in the field of mental and sexual health accessible to young people, giving them the chance to realize their personal and economic potential.

And: The app became a multi-channel program, which also includes a website

with additional learning content and a Train-the-Trainer program

Thejourney doesn’t endhere: LoveLandis continuouslyexpandedwithnewtopicsand game levels through donations

. This is a good time to pause, look back, enjoy and appreciate what has been achieved. In this context, I would like to express my deep gratitude:

JP, who has always believed in me and Love Land, who continues to motivate and unconditionally support me. Love Land would not be where it is today without him.

Our game design team: Four years of passion and professionalism. I have never heard a “No, that’s not possible” in response to one of my sometimes impossible-to-implement ideas They always find a solution, are open and curious about new approaches,andhandle the sensitive topics of mental and sexual health with incredible tact.

Advisory board: Thanks to this wealth of experts, we were able to develop Love Land both content-wise and technically with precision. We can also always count on the support of our board on the legal, financial, and psychological levels.

A huge thank you also goes to our donors and foundations, who not only support our

project but have never been impressed by the unreflected voices that degrade our Love Land app to a sex app.

And of course, I alsothank the orangutans, who somehow miraculously and inexplicably made their way into my thoughts back then and have given me this wonderfully rich life.

Karin Stierlin

Cape Town 10. June 2024