Just to give a quick update. I put the swings up last Friday and then revealed them to the students this morning. It was CHAOS!!! I had nearly 600 kids surrounding me and screaming to get a seat on one of the eight swings. The swing sets were designated by boys and girls…but it didn’t stop the occasional boy to push a girl off to get at least one swing in. There aren’t really any words to describe the emotional impact these swing sets had on these children. On occasion, one kid would mistakenly and obliviously walk in front of a kid who was swinging and after getting the wind knocked out of him, would laugh, stand up and queue for a seat. It was incredible (and I know I’m using this word a lot) to see the amount of laughter and screams heard on this minimalist playground. To see something so simple and something that we take advantage of be SO HUGE is an indescribable experience. I have some great video and pictures of the children’s faces…I’m sure all of you will enjoy.
THE BAD NEWS…is that I returned later on that evening with an Architect to estimate the roof of a classroom…and found one of the swing sets entirely DISMANTLED!!! Will get the news on how that happened later…just trying to build something that will be sustainable (HA!) in Africa….aaaaah, seems sometimes impossible.
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May 15, 2006 at 6:25 pm
Sharon
That’s really amazing, Karin. Have many of these kids ever seen or used swings before? I’m sorry to hear that one of the sets was dismantled!
May 30, 2006 at 6:44 pm
Karin
There are swing sets here in Tanzania, but not really accessible to the children. So when these swings went up, it seemed the whole village came out. Even the church goers stood by and watched all the children rioting over a swing. it was intense…indescribable…I don’t know what else to say…swings, people…SWINGS!!!!