Game On 2024 : when MSF combines educational activities with humanitarian action

We were in the Rotondes on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 October for the Game On event, dedicated to games enthusiasts. It was an excellent opportunity to raise awareness of our missions among the general public in Luxembourg. Through two educational games developed by our teams, the ‘Stop Ebola’ escape game and the ‘Missing Maps’ board game, we were able to highlight our work in more than 70 countries around the world.

A total of 150 people visited our stand to take part in our games, couples, families, children and adults alike! We'd like to extend our warmest thanks to everyone who came to talk to us. Your interest and commitment are essential to supporting our work and making a real difference to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters or exclusion from healthcare.

We look forward to seeing you at future events!

And here's some good news: would you like to find out more about mapping and have an impact on our work in Nigeria, without leaving Luxembourg? Registration is now open for our next mapathon, which will take place on 21 November, from 6.30pm to 9.30pm, at the University of Luxembourg.

Once again, thank you for organising this event. Always imaginative and innovative. I'm delighted to have made my modest contribution to this event, which was a great success. It was a great experience, sharing with a very interested and involved public, and a very good understanding between the volunteers present. Whatever the outcome, a hundred more people were made aware of MSF's work in this land where so many people are still suffering.

Maria, volunteer for MSF Luxembourg

For the second time since the 2024 Migration Festival, we had the pleasure of presenting our ‘Stop Ebola’ escape room. This educational tool, designed by MSF, aims to give the public an immersive experience of an emergency situation in the face of the Ebola epidemic, a highly infectious and dangerous disease.

In teams of 2 to 6 people, participants were able to put themselves in the shoes of our medical teams and simulate all the steps to be taken before entering a high-risk area. This area, where confirmed Ebola patients are treated, presents a particularly high risk of contagion. The teams embarked on a riddle-filled quest to assemble all the pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) needed to prevent the spread of the virus in a high-risk area, all in just 20 minutes.

Around a hundred adults and children took up the ‘Stop Ebola’ challenge and came away with a better understanding of the issues involved in such an epidemic and the essential role played by MSF teams in caring for patients and their families.

Find out more about the Ebola epidemic

Missing Maps is a unique board game that raises awareness of the humanitarian issues that Médecins Sans Frontières faces every year. Using an interactive map of the world, players discover several areas of intervention, the crises encountered and the challenges that our teams in the field have to overcome. These areas all have one thing in common: the absence of quality maps before the Missing Maps teams and our mapathons participants could intervene, anywhere in the world. By handling magnets representing country flags and crises, participants learn in a fun way about the importance of cartography in humanitarian missions and the impact that each and every one of them can have on our actions from a distance.

The Missing Maps project was born in 2014 to meet the needs of teams who lack accurate maps in vulnerable areas. So we launched mapathons, participatory mapping workshops where everyone can make a difference. By donating three hours of your time, you contribute directly to the planning of our operations and to the support of our humanitarian action by providing us with detailed geographical data. This data is then used to produce high-quality maps of the areas in which we operate, which are essential for a wide range of activities, including vaccination campaigns and flood relief.

Registration is now open for our next mapathon, which will take place on 21 November, from 6.30pm to 9.30pm, at the University of Luxembourg!