In episode 7, Susan talks with Lual Mayen, a South Sudanese game developer, entrepreneur, and humanitarian whose journey from being born on the run from civil war to founding his own studio shows what happens when opportunity finally meets talent and persistence.Growing up in a Ugandan refugee camp with no reliable electricity or formal tech education, he taught himself to code, created the peace-focused game Salaam, and launched Junub Games to use interactive experiences to build empathy and support for refugees and communities affected by conflict.

Lual talks about life growing up in a Ugandan refugee camp with scarce food, limited infrastructure, and no reliable electricity. He shares early memories of building a life from cleared land, finding joy in community and play, and developing a fascination with electronics. He recounts how his mother saved money for years so she could give him his own laptop, the responsibility that it represented, and how he became motivated to create games about peace and conflict resolution. Lual talks about discovering video games, teaching himself coding and design without mentors or internet, and about how he shared his early APK via Facebook, leading to global attention.

• (00:00) - GGJPodLualMayen
• (00:00) - Intro
• (01:30) - Meet Lual Mayen
• (07:29) - The Life of a Refugee
• (11:02) - Introduction to Technology
• (13:26) - A Sense of Responsability
• (16:09) - Turning to Video Games
• (18:07) - Building Resilience
• (26:38) - Mentors, Mentees and Networking
• (29:56) - Impact & Milestones
• (35:01) - The Future
• (36:23) - The Foundation
• (38:22) - The Power of Sharing your Games
• (41:27) - Lual's Plans for the Future
• (43:08) - What Little Lual Would the be the Most Proud of
• (45:17) - Outro

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Janub Games

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This episode is sponsored by the University of Miami School of Communications and the Knight Foundation