International Recognition!

Project Playground was recently recognized by CIEE for its excellence in community engagement and volunteerism. CIEE is the study abroad program through which Kristin Todd, Nicholas Donahue, Becca Ferrelli, and I came to South Africa. It was one of only 12 projects chosen from study abroad programs around the world. This is an incredible honor and shows how the dream of one small class can grow to have international meaning. I want to thank each and everyone of you for your support, donations, time, and effort that made Project Playground possible. Always remember 'do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail' (or a playground) -RWE. Thank you again!:)

Best,

Katy

Construction has Started!

Hi Everyone! Construction on the playground started early this morning and when I left the school just an hour ago there were already signs of a swing set and structure!

The greatest thing about today was seeing how invested Headmaster Jansen had become in the project as he pointed out the fireman's pole and tire swings being assembled - both his suggestions now coming to life. You could see in his face how happy he was the playground was being built and how proud he was to have been such a valued member of our team.

(Learners watching the construction)

Jungle Mania plans to finish the playground tomorrow afternoon and the opening ceremony will be on Thursday morning at 10:30am. Everyone is welcome to join in the celebration!

Best,

Katy

Meeting with Jungle Mania!

Hi Everyone!

Today Hannah and I met with Donnovan, the owner of Jungle Mania, and discussed plans for construction. The meeting went wonderfully and we were able to set a few important dates for next week! On Monday, May 16th construction will begin on the playground. According to Donnovan the structures should take two days to complete. Then, if we have raised enough funding, on Wednesday construction will begin on the fencing surrounding the playground. We decided to add fencing to our goal after speaking with the teachers and staff of Lynedoch School who expressed a concern over leaving the playground unattended during hours the school was not open to monitor it. Fencing will also be an important part of preserving what we have all worked so hard to create. This is where we need your help! I have been approached by a number of people in the last few weeks asking if they could still donate even though we had already reached our goal. This is your chance! The goal is now set at $500 but it will be adjusted once we get the quote from Donnovan later this evening. If all goes according to plan and all funds are raised, everything will be finished Thursday evening and the Grand Opening will be Friday morning! We want to make this a special event to celebrate the hard work of all those involved in the process. Invitations will be sent out at the end of this week but all are certainly welcome to join in the festivities. More information will be sent once the details of the event are settled. Thank you everyone for your support!

Katy

Clean-Up

I wanted to update everyone on how the cleanup went over the past two days before many of the students travel for the holidays and the month wraps up. When April wraps up we are hoping to wrap up some of the fund-raising as well (but this will continue for a soccer field we hope) so that we can get orders placed for our playground equipment!! We now have a blank canvas to work with thanks to the help of LSCE students and students of Lynedoch Primary!
Yesterday, we began by moving shrubs and branches that the Sustainability Institute had placed where we wanted our structures to go. We had to move a lot of stuff back but it got done pretty quickly. Today when we were at Lynedoch almost all of the children had a part in the cleaning up and the area looks great. We were able to tape off the area we want the structures to go into.

After this initial clean up we were able to meet with a woman from the Sustainability Institute to tell her about our plans. The meeting was encouraging and gave the few LSCE students that were able to make it a chance to discuss our ideas with some important role players in the Lynedoch community. Plans were given to her and she is now going to let the community know what we have up our sleeve so that we can all work together to make this playground functional and safe for the children. Below is our ideas in a design. This option is the closest to what we would like to see the entire playground look like in the long run, and the area on the left with the playground structure (has an animal name), the see-saw, and the swings are our goal for the next month!

After the Easter holidays we will talk with the play ground company about structures and continue conversation with the Lynedoch community about our project. We will then begin discussion about which structures we want by giving the community a few different options of what we can do with the money.

As always, we will keep you posted.

Hannah
(Katy is already away on her Easter holiday!)

Breaking Ground!

Thanks to our wonderful donors we have now raised just over $2500! This amount is not entirely reflected on the goal tracker because some donations were not transferable online and had to be given in the form of checks. Since we are well on our way to funding the jungle gym and have received all necessary permissions from the school, we will be breaking ground this Wednesday to clear the area where the playground will be. The clearing process will continue until the end of April and we plan to have the jungle gym installed within the first two weeks of May. As for the sports equipment and athletic fields, after speaking with Headmaster Jansen and Mr. Myburgh (7th Grade Teacher) we learned of the schools plans to petition for state funding for athletic fields and will therefore contribute all of our "Sports Equipment" donations to equipment for sports that can be played on the land as it is now (soccer/rugby balls, jump ropes, sidewalk chalk...). It is also our sentiment that this project should not be exclusive to our LSCE group and rather a project for ours and future classes. This emphasizes sustainable development practices in that one specific need is addressed in a community and met as a result of collaboration between all stakeholders. If we were to focus on the athletic fields in addition to the playground, our resources would be limited and our attention to quality and collaboration diminished. In order to make this development project not only one of experience but of learning and reflection as well, we will be leaving a project journal for the following class so they can learn from our efforts and begin theirs using connections and resources we have already identified in the community. More information on this journal will be available as we reach the close of our project. Thank you.

Best,

Katy

VOTE NOW!!!!

Hi Everyone! VOTE NOW for playground designs on our facebook page, just search Project Playground: Lynedoch Primary School and "like" your favorite design. Special thanks to Hannah Massey for all her hard work designing the layouts and making all this possible!

Updates!

Hello Everyone!

I want to send a big thank you out to all of our donors who have contributed so generously to our cause. It is truly amazing to see what a difference people can make in a small community from great distances away. The LSCE class too has been working hard to spread the word of Project Playground through Facebook, emails, and a student-generated commercial: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=197062290317325&oid=192358130798567&comments. Within the next few weeks we will be working together with the community to clear the land the playground will sit on and the designs will be finalized by the end of this week! Thank you again to all of our donors!

Best,

Katy

DONATIONS!

Hi Everyone! I opened a bank account for Project Playground yesterday at First National Bank and we are now able to accept donations! As you can see we are collecting donations for a variety of sub-projects we will be working on. We have decided to break it up this way in order to offer more options for our supporters. Whether you are an individual wanting to contribute to the Jungle Gym or a group wanting to sponsor the Athletic Supplies your goal is possible! More specific donation projects will be added as we finalize layouts and pricing so stay tuned. Thank you to all those who have supported us so far, we are truly making a difference. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like more information on funding/donations.

Best,

Katy

Surveys, Banks, & Jungle Gyms

Hey everyone! Yesterday we went to Lynedoch to survey the students on what they would like to see on the playground and the results were very exciting! For Grades 1 and 2 the teachers gave us a good idea of what they would like to see for their students. For the older grades though we got them involved by taking a show of hands for ideas we had and then asked them to contribute their own suggestions. We heard everything from a jumping castle to a swimming pool to a tree house and it was so great to see them excited about the idea of a playground. There were so many suggestions for the jungle gym that we have a firm understanding of what to include but the current debate is whether we should purchase a pre-assembled jungle gym or build one ourselves using in-kind donations and purchasing additional supplies. We'll have a better idea of the best course of action once we've evaluated the financial aspects of the project. There is also an area of the lot that can be used as an athletic field. Since one sport didn't win out over the others, it seems that we'll be working on making it a multipurpose field with lines and goals for soccer, rugby, and cricket and then set a goal to collect as much sports equipment as we can. There is also a space that could fit a small stage where the students could put on plays and the school could host performances. Given the number of different projects going on at once, it seems it might make sense to divide our funding strategies into three categories: jungle gym, performance stage, and athletic fields. This way those donating could contribute to their area of interest and see a positive change their truly invested  in. I went to the bank today to inquire about opening an account for the playground but in order to do so we would need a number of additional permits to what we currently have. Instead I will be opening a student account on Monday strictly for playground donations that will be attached to a Paypal account. Unfortunately the account will not be in the name of the playground but all financials are entirely transparent and bank records will be available upon request. Please don't hesitate to ask for more information.

Best,

Katy

Updates...

Hi everyone. Yesterday we measured the area of the land plot and have now begun to brainstorm how to divide and structure it into a jungle gym and sports field. We will be going to Lynedoch tomorrow morning to work out logistics and should have a variety of design templates by week's end. We will also be surveying the student body tomorrow to ensure their wants and needs are being met in our design. In order to choose a final layout we will be calling a community meeting where everyone involved will have a vote in the decision. The date for the meeting is still pending but will be announced as soon as possible. We are also starting to form a media team that will create a commercial advertising what we are doing in hopes of raising money to fund the playground. The current challenge is to determine what pictures and footage of the school and children we will be allowed to use, if any, and what the rights and legal issues are surrounding that. I'll have more updates for you tomorrow.

Best,

Katy

Where we are now...

Hi everyone, I just want to make sure we are all on the same page so we can start off on a good foot and get to work right away. This past Thursday we confirmed with Habitat for Humanity of Stellenbosch University that they will be working with us to design, fund, and build the playground and recreational area at Lynedoch. The first step is to design the playground which involves land, zoning, and market research. I spoke with the Headmaster of Lynedoch, Mr. Grantham Jansen, this past Friday and he agreed to allocate a plot of land next to the school for the playground. Since the land is not owned by the school, he will be speaking on our behalf with the Sustainability Institute to confirm its availability. Tomorrow we will be working with Mr. Abrahamse to measure the dimensions of the area so we know what is logistically possible. On Wednesday we will be surveying the students grades 1-8 to see what they would like to have on the playground because it is very important that our work is grounded in the wants and needs of the students. Our goal within the next few weeks is to have a number of playground layouts designed and then to call a community meeting where all stakeholders will work together to decide on a final layout. Once a design has been selected we will estimate the cost and begin securing funding for the project. For more information please find us on facebook at Project Playground: Lynedoch Primary School.

Best,

Katy