Reflections on the exhibition by Aga

‘Ideas are like rabbits. You get couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen’. John Steinbeck

I think this quote from John Steinbeck explains a lot about our work in Mbollet. Everything started from one small idea which later got adjusted, expanded ‘reprogrammed’ and evolved in ways we  didn’t expect. It turned out that trying to establish ownership, mutual respect  and cooperation is not an easy task, but is definitely worth the hard work and effort.

Our three weeks of work in The Gambia concluded with a 3-day-long exhibition, which was part of the consultation with community process. We presented the construction of the tyre prototype, the photos and drawings from the workshops with the children and initial ideas for the playground. There was lots of printing (which turned out to be not an easy task and quite expensive), pinning, taping, hanging, cutting. Grade I and II children helped us prepare an ‘interactive’ map of the playground where different elements can be moved around according to the wishes and visions of each person. I need to say – it was great to have them working with us, we would not be able to prepare everything on our own. It also allowed us to involve more people in the preparations.

The aim of the exhibition was to present the ideas and have a conversation about the next steps.
On Thursday 27.04 we held a meeting with women from the village – mothers, aunties, grandmothers. The main reason for us to do it was to understand the issues and worries that women might have about the playground. Our conversation soon changed and involved different ideas about the design and construction. We received very valuable feedback about the sand we used for primary idea – the sand hills made in December. It was great to get to know new faces and to see the women we had worked with with before.

Unfortunately the attendance during the other two days of the exhibition was not as high as of Thursday mainly due to lots of marriage ceremonies in the village. Another group of women came, and few of the parents. Similar conversations were carried out as during the first day. We were told how much people appreciate that we involved them in the design process and considered their opinions.

As for Vicky and me every now and then we had to stop ourselves from pushing for our own opinions and ideas and make sure we follow the line we both agreed for at the beginning – to listen to others.

Now back to drawing board! Vicky in UK and me in Senegal for next few weeks.

I am very grateful for the eye opening experience this time, both in Mbollet and in Senegal. This time I had a chance to meet more people and understand more about the living conditions and daily struggles. Now when I write this post I think about ‘Heal The World’ by Michael Jackson – song that I was listening to when I was growing up, we all can make a difference, as long as we will realise we need to respect each other. We are all one. As someone told me in Senegal ‘Africa system: when I can I will help you, because one day I might need your help also’. Big THANK YOU to everyone who helped me to understand what is important

The rest of the week 3 and workshops

 

The rest of the week we ran workshops with all the nursery children and also with Mr Corr's Grade 1 and 2 classes. We played outside using tape measures, magnifying glasses, took photos, drew pictures, made dens, and made models for a map of the playground.

Here's a snapshot of what we did

Week 3 - Monday 24th April

Well it was a pretty busy week, but we knew it would be! We had a great time running workshops with the nursery children and started off by observing them in their playground on the first day back at school. All the children were in great spirits, happy to see each other again after the Easter break. We observed them playing in the tunnels, on the tyres and then slowly introduced different elements that we had been playing with in the previous weeks. The fabric was the first to come out and was a huge success - for about 20 minutes most of the children were all under the three pieces of fabric, parading around the playground chanting different songs, and playing games with each other. It seems hiding and moving around is big hit.

After that we brought out the woven palm baskets and cardboard boxes. The children were pretty inventive, imaginative and collaborative, playing games and experimenting with different ways to use the items. They covered themselves with the fabric inside the baskets, put the baskets inside the tyres and climbed in all together and played games. The idea of enclosure and feeling snug seemed to appeal.

Because it was the first day back at school, many of the other classrooms were being prepared and so children from other classes in the school started to come into the playground as well as the nursery children over the course of the morning. It got fairly busy and raucous and really highlighted the need for a fence to protect the space for the younger ones. It also made us very aware of the fact that older children were really keen to play (they loved the tyres and making games with them) and started us thinking about the need to create something for older children outside of the nursery playground. One of the teachers, Modou Corr, said that he thought that if there were tyres the children could come up with their own games and ideas for play in another part of the school.

We also noticed that the youngest children wanted somewhere to read, write and be quiet. some of them were sitting by a fence, a small group were writing balanced on a tyre and another boy quietly observed the proceedings in the playground from his snug position in a cardboard box!

We also tried out the 'speaking tube' which is in fact a length of bendy plastic tube around 20-25 metres long where children can speak in one end and someone else can listen at the other. The children had a lot of fun with this, singing songs and chatting to each other. They also turned it into a game and started skipping and jumping over it. This made us think about making one out of metal which could be played with like this.