PLAYGROUND PROJECT - 2015

Our first project is to build a playground for the kids to have an enjoyable break between and after classes. This playground will have swings, slides, spinning wheels and other fun equipments.

Remember being a kid and couldn't wait to go to school to either show off your new clothes or play with your friends? Remember the joy of running around in the playground during lunch or after school until your parents came to pick you up? Kindergarten and Elementary school provided a getaway from parents and restrictions on what you can jump on or jump from. What made school special during those years, beside your favorite teachers and best friends, was the playground atmosphere full of different types of equipments you can play with (swings, monkey bars, slides, etc...). We focused on building a playground as our first major project because we want to bring that joy to these kids. We want to provide a safe playful environment. School is only fun when it's coupled with fun activities outside the classroom. It will be tough enough when it's high school and college level, when grades truly matter. This playground, once completed, will be able to serve current kids as well as thousands in the future.

Keyamba is an elementary school that houses over 600 students from KG to the 8th grade. Every KG student pays a tuition of 50 birr (Ethiopian currency) a month because the city does not have a budget for education. Most, if not all of the parents of these kids make a living by washing clothes manually or making enjera (traditional Ethiopian food) for the community that needs their services, among other strenuous day labor. They are societies definition of poverty. These kindergarteners are divided into two classrooms (approximately 26 students per class). What we have decided in addition to building a playground, is to pay the tuition for the students so these poor parents can allocate the little money they make towards food and shelter. Not only are we relieving the parents of a huge burden, but we are also aiding the teachers because their salary was directly tied to the parents ability to pay tuition. Prior to our intervention with this school, these KG teachers were making an average of 8,400 birr ( roughly $420 US dollars) annually. Through private donations, we offered to bump that salary to 12,000 birr each. Once these kindergartner are of age, they will be transferred to grade one, where tuition is no longer an issue. We will continue our aid for the new wave of poor kids that will need our assistance. We will continue with this specific program until a better alternative is found.