Betweien project has the support of the Gulbenkian Foundation, EDP and Braga Hospital
Betweien, a young company born in the School of Engineering of the University of Minho, marked on July 7, nine years with the launch of the portal www.guerreirosdasaude.com, which sensitizes children about covid-19. This project was born from an original tale, which was recommended by the Directorate General of Education and is now converted into a playful and didactic site, co-financed by the Gulbenkian Foundation and EDP and with the scientific support of Braga Hospital. The presentation of the portal took place at the Villa Garden Hotel (Braga), with transmission on Betweien’s social networks and the online participation of actress Mariana Monteiro, youtuber Mathgurl and 12 musicians, such as Ana Bacalhau, Carlão, Fernando Daniel and Rita Redshoes.
The new platform, “Warriors of Health against Coronavirus”, aims to spread the newest reliable and public health messages about coronavirus. It makes available a video based on the original ebook, as well as music, curiosities, 16 games and even animations on the theme with one of the “warriors” characters. The contents are even in Portuguese sign language and are being updated with the pandemic evolution. The digital book of the same name, which teaches children how to fight the coronavirus, appeared last March, already reaching 20 thousand downloads in Portuguese, Spanish, French and English and an estimated reach of over one million people.
“I’m a superstar virus, fast as cheetah, I jump from hand to hand, I put a lot of people in distress,” you read. In the end, the “warrior” children want to unite to win the challenge: “The main thing is to continue to believe that everyone will be fine”. The book was created in 48 hours and the website in a few weeks, with around 10.000 euros of support from “Gulbenkian Digital Solutions Covid-19”.
Betweien was born in 2011 in Braga, and is led by Narciso Moreira, graduated and master in Education by UMinho. The team – which includes other professionals graduated by UMinho – is committed to educational innovation, namely through books. These contents can combine music, theatre, performances and debates in schools and institutions all over the country, often involving national figures in themes such as bullying, environment and equality. The company is also the only one in Portugal to promote junior entrepreneurship in the primary and secondary education network; one of its books, “Senhor empreendedorismo”, was even published in Angola, highlighted in “Forbes Brasil” and converted into a video game.
Learn more about Betweien and the project that took Narciso Moreira to the School of Engineering of UMinho, to create it, here.