Many projects exist to bring play to places where play may be forgotten. "The Right to Play" and "Cheza Tanzania."  The Right to Play focuses on play as an essential basic need, rather than a luxury, claiming that there are areas of the world where children are not able to easily and actively engage in playful, educational activities with other children.

"We use the power of play to educate and empower children to be guardians of their own health and active participants in their communities." -
The Right to Play

It is very important to note that many children around the world create their own opportunities for play. In Longido, for example, the children play a game called X-Bamboucha. The key opportunity is not to bring the ability to play to children (children know how to play), rather it is to improve the educational value and provide the community space for creative play.

From the E-for Education display we know jumping is considered fun and a game commonly place is called X-Bamboucha.

In Tanzania, safe play spaces are not common, and this problem is not helped by the fact that "50% of the country lives below the poverty line, 65% of the population are youth, and virtually no one has access to training and education." Right to Play is currently working in Tanzania to improve the situation. They have created 29 play spaces in local schools and community centers, focuses on the community aspect of the spaces as places for parents and youth to gather. They use play as an opportunity for education about:

• HIV and AIDS prevention
• compassion, empathy and understanding for others
• and how to be inclusive of girls and people living with disabilities

Play is an essential part of development, and it is important for children to have safe community spaces to play. Play can be used as a method to learn and teach children about important aspect of life; it can be a teaching tool and play spaces can help provide free learning spaces for communities.

Why This is Important:

This information will be used when developing concepts and ideas around play spaces in Longido. We must understand the values of play as a basic need and the social/moral implications of designing play spaces in the third World. We should understand how play affects a child's development and the amount of time children in Longido are given to play.