Scene 4: A Promising Start to the Park

Background

After missing crucial workdays, the team was excited to return to Flamingo and see what progress had been made on the crèche while they were away on Safari. The plan was to catch up on crèche processes and also to make real headway on the playground and scavenge as many tires as possible.

Cast of Characters

The WPI Flamingo Team – Jacquelyne, Malina, Andres, Justin, Kristin

Community Members – Mark, Shakeel, Elizabeth, Crèche Construction Team

CECD – Eric Atmore, Sarah Atmore

CORC – Adi, Chuma

ISN – Terrence

Levona and Estralita’s Children

Setting

Flamingo Crescent Informal Settlement

Scene

Everyone was a bit groggy after an eventful safari adventure as we pulled into Flamingo Crescent today. We shuffled out and made our way to the crèche space. When we turned the corner we were in shock. The crèche was up and standing with doors and windows installed. When we walked a little closer we found Sarah and Eric Atmore standing inside the space looking very pleased. Terrance greeted us as we took our first steps inside Little Paradise. A few of us got a little emotional just seeing this building standing and how much the community’s hard work had paid off so far. We knew things were going in the right direction when Eric turned to Terrance before he left and told him “this crèche isn’t good…it’s brilliant.”

Now that the crèche was underway, we had plenty of room and time to work on the play park. After receiving fantastic news from PlayVentures that the playground we ordered would be delivered tomorrow morning, we had a lot to get done.

This is the design we received from PlayVentures

The launch was still being planned for this Thursday, December 4^th and we wanted to get the play park looking good. Alongside the help of Estralita and Levona’s children, we painted Hopscotch and 4-square on the ground in the play area. As soon as the paint dried and not a second later, the children were already playing and jumping about. We continued on to the construction of a few tire gardens by drilling two tires together and painting them in order to fill them with soil, rocks, and plants at a later date. They were stored in the security of the crèche with closed doors and locks. We then packed up for the day after watching the children jump rope and run around.

Already Playing on the Finished Hopscotch

Painting Tires for the Gardens

Finished Four Square Product

Reflection

It was an eventful day at Flamingo Crescent this morning. We were all a bit shocked to see Eric and Sarah Atmore standing in the crèche admiring the work. It calmed everyone’s nerves to hear that they were both very pleased. Knowing how many different partners are involved in this project, it is very satisfying to have approval and support from all.

The help we received today from outside individuals was incredible. It was humbling to know that even though these kids were on break from school, they chose to spend their time with us in Flamingo helping build tire structures and paint on the ground for these children. We know they worked with the student’s from last year, but going out of their way to help us out was greatly appreciated.

Lastly, the children are the sole reason for our efforts in Flamingo Crescent. After painting such a simple hopscotch on the ground, the kids played for hours. It made us see how happy a little paint could make them. Their smiles and laughs brighten our days and we can’t wait to see their faces tomorrow when the play structure is installed.