Support the local business series #3 Lulu Lab
#3 Lulu Lab
MAKING TABOO TOPICS EASIER TO SPEAK ABOUT
“Spreading the word will make a difference for the girls and boys that we can impact together.”
Did you know... 🤔
… that in India, 1 in 5 girls drop out of school due to their period while in Africa, 1 in 4 girls give birth before turning 18? 🤯 This is two of the reasons why the two founders Sally Gregersen and Matilde Juul started the very inspiring startup Lulu Lab! 🙌 By developing educational games, Lulu Lab is breaking taboos around sexual health and rights for boys and girls in Kenya, Ethiopia and Sierra Leone! 👫💪
Because of their important mission, we chose Lulu Lab as startup #3 in our “Support the local businesses” series. We know, we know… it is not quite a “local” business in that sense, however, founded in Copenhagen, the cause that Lulu Lab is working for is so important all around the world 💯 that we would like to help spreading the word about it and support the work that can be so beneficial for developing countries which are at particular risk due to COVID-19.
Read more about Lulu Lab’s work, how the current situation impacts their work and how you can support this important cause in our blog post below! 👇👇👇
Q&A
1) How did Lulu Lab start out?
Our founding team has met at the #Hack4Girls hackathon that took place in Copenhagen in November 2017. The challenge was to come up with a tech-based solution to educate refugee girls and young women in Sub-Saharan Africa on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). We quickly discovered that the need for an innovative solution is huge – even way beyond the African continent.
Today, Lulu Lab is acknowledged by UNESCO and develops engaging, educational games on taboo topics such as intimate hygiene, sexual diseases and mental health problems. In India, 1 in 5 girls drop out of school due to their period while in Africa, 1 in 4 girls give birth before turning 18. To fight these unfair standards, we show young girls and boys for example that the female cycle is completely natural and rather something to be proud than to be ashamed of, and offer a platform for openly asking questions around sexuality and mental health. Since 2018, we are collaborating with global partners such as UN Women and UNFPA and are continuously creating and improving our gameplays.
We are currently present in East and West Africa, but we are planning to expand: Excitingly, Lulu Lab has recently won the global #IdeasChange Lives2020 Award from the British Council, and their support enables us to customize our EdTech Dilemma game and expand to India!
2) Which SDGs does Lulu Lab tackle and how?
#3 Good Health and well-being
There is a huge need for education on taboo topics such as Mental Health and Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights. By raising awareness and educate on these topics, we want to empower young users to make informed decisions about their health and future.
#4 Quality Education
We create engaging educational games based on visuals and voice overs, which means that everyone can play, regardless of reading or writing skills. Our games also provide a safe space where boys and girls can learn about their health, rights, and bodies.
#5 Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
Lulu Lab works to enable girls to reach the same opportunities as boys and empower them to take charge of their own bodies, and reducing school drop-out rates.
#10 Reduce inequality within and among countries
We believe that high-quality education must be accessible to everyone. Our game tests shows how our games help to solve behavioral change challenges amongst vulnerable young users in developing countries due to their interactive and visual design!
17# Revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development
Our games are developed to enhance the already existing efforts of our partners in East and West Africa. Through strong partnerships with global NGO’s, local schools, municipalities and companies, we are able to interact and engage with our end-users where they are, to make sure that our game fits their needs and matches local capacities
3) How is COVID-19 affecting your work in and the lives of the people in Africa (Uganda and Sierra Leone)?
Lulu Lab and our partners were just about to launch our new Dilemma when COVID-19 hit us all! Unfortunately, this launch has now been postponed since COVID-19 has sent us all home - both in Denmark and in East and West Africa. But we are very happy to know that our partners and end-users are safe at home, and thankful that we can still keep in touch with most of them online. Luckily, our newest game is designed as a plug-and-play for new health education content! This means that we can easily add new topics to the game why we are also currently busy updating according to COVID-19.
Lulu Lab has an exciting list of international partners and projects for 2020 but our work often requires travelling. We always strive to do as much as possible online to also be climate-considerate, but since we co-design and develop every single part of our products in close collaboration with our end-users - girls and boys who often do not have a smartphone nor a decent internet connection, this can be a challenge.
4) How can individuals support Lulu Lab?
Spread the word about Lulu Lab and our educational games! We are able to reach and impact more girls and boys with health education through new partnerships. New partners can be located anywhere in the world as we can easily translate our games to a new cultural context and language. Maybe you are volunteering for an NGO, have established an organization yourself or have an idea for a perfect partner for Lulu Lab? Spreading the word will make a difference for the girls and boys that we can impact together.
