becoming part of the community
133
A Playground For All
Ribaralta is an isolated town in Bolivia. Because of bad roads, it
takes 30 hours to drive from Ribaralta to the closest city. It is a poor
town. There is no water system, and many of the people who live in
Ribaralta do not have electricity. A group of parents of children with
disabilities had begun meeting every 2 weeks. They discovered that
they had become experts about their children’s needs.
Because they had learned so much about disability, they wanted to
educate the community about children with disabilities. They decided
to build a ‘playground for all children’ that would bring disabled
children and non-disabled children together through play.
The parents’ original idea, which they thought would take
3 Sundays of work, became a much bigger project as people began
to think of more ideas for the playground. They got businesses and
farms to donate bricks, nails, wood, and trees. The finished playground
included a fence, benches, trees, and playground equipment made
from local wood and used tires.
Children enjoy crawling through
well-cleaned old barrels or drums.
Children who are blind will enjoy the
echoes their voices can make inside
the drums.
Try to include different kinds of
swings. Build some swings low
enough for small children to
reach by themselves.
Children who cannot see well
will be able to find and use the play
equipment if it is painted with bright
colors. Children who are blind will be
able to find their way around if paths
have edges, and if some play areas
have grass and some have no grass.
Children love to make
sounds by hitting or
tapping things. Children
who are blind will
especially enjoy this
kind of play.
helping children who are blind