Project Details
Ban Yaang Community Playground (PCV 122 Zerina Borhan): This is a community - initiated project,, and the community members and leaders were very dedicated to building an affordable, sustainable, safe and fun playground for kids to enjoy. Through numerous meetings and cooperation with the village leaders, we sketched the layout of the playground, recruited skilled laborers within the villages, and put together the budget. They community donated the land, which is conveniently located near a temple and a community meeting center, and also donated in-kind or directly purchase the materials needed for the construction of the playground. With the help of the SAO, community members also agreed to donate the time and labor needed to build and maintain the playground for years to come.
The community had selected a great site for the playground, next to where the exercise equipment will be constructed for adults. Any pieces that needed maintenance would be noticed and fixed by adults, who regularly gather nearby. Also, the way that the playground was made - by the community, with local materials - would serve to keep the playground from falling into disrepair because the community would have the skills and easy access to most of the materials needed for the playground’s upkeep. The Playground People model relies heavily on wood that can be harvested within a community, but the villagers of Ban Yaang are concerned with the quality of wood that is grown in their area of central Thailand, which they consider to be of a lower quality than the wood in northern Thailand, where Playground People typically operates. After several meetings, the council members have decided that the community will use as many local materials as they can, in keeping with the Playground People model, but will be substituting steel for wood in order to ensure the strength and stability of the structures.
The overall layout of the Playground is pretty simple: two cubby structures, a bridge connecting the houses, a slide, monkey bar, two seesaws, swings, a climbing structure made out of motorcycle tires and car tires surrounding the entire playground. The entire project, from the planning stages to the final building stages, took about 3 months. The construction of the project was completed mostly by the village leaders who welded the steel pieces according to the sketches provided by Playground People, and community members who came together on the last few days to paint and put together the last necessary pieces of the playground.
Playgrounds by the Community and for the Community (RPCV 120-Cameron Miller): Huay Dtom is a Karen village of nearly 10,000 community members. The village has a large child population and each year 120 of 300 children are rejected from the local school. These children must stay in the daycare center for another 1-2 years, further straining an already underfunded system. With such strain on the system asafe place for children to play and exercise is often the last thing on the community or SAO’s agenda. This opportunity will afford the community the ability to provide these children with a safe place to play and relieve teachers and parents of the extra worry their children will be injured on the existing concrete field and playground materials that surround the center (Budget: $ 1,359.22)
Projects details for BOTH Zerina Borhan and Cameron Miller can also be found on PC Playgrounds
