The Project
Out of The Box is a fresh and innovative project which aims to build adventure playgrounds and youth centres across Ethiopia.
Working in partnership with the local community. We have joined forces with Ethiopian architects, artists, resident associations and young people, Out of the Box works to facilitate the creation of imaginative and culturally sensitive child-centered play spaces in urban environments.
With £5000, we will build the first adventure playground in Ethiopia in a housing condominium in inner-city Addis Ababa.This first crowdfunded project is a crucial step in order to gain future long term funding from charitable grants, trusts and the private sector. The project will be the first of many, we hope to bring play to lives of children across Ethiopia and beyond!
Why is play important?
Play is a human right and is proven to be extremely important for enhancing the wellbeing, physical, emotional and cognitive development of children, whilst simultaneously providing a fun and nurturing environment that inspires children’s exploration and self-discovery.
The creation of a playground provides children and young people with a direct stake, visual presence and enhanced modes of representation in their immediate community - essential for building actively engaged, respectful and educated citizens of the future.
Through interactive youth workshops and consultations with the Balderas community and Resident Association and architects from the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture (EiABC) the OTB team has designed an original, culturally relevant, dynamic space for children to play, socialise and learn. Built from locally sourced materials the playground will incorporate 5 essential elements of play: (Physical, Cognitive, Sensory, Social, Imaginative) and will strive to achieve a playground that is inclusive and accessible for children of all ages, genders and abilities.
The Location
Constructed in 2008 and located in North Western area of Addis, Balderas condominium is home to 1050 households and 6000 residents, a third of which are under 16 years old.
There is a distinct lack of safe spaces to play, affordable early-year’s day care provision and formal activity based opportunities for children and young people in Balderas and throughout Ethiopia.
OTB has a long standing relationship with Balderas Resident Association and has conducted in-depth community consultations and workshops with children and their carers. They specifically identified the lack of play facilities as a key priority.
In April 2014 OTB facilitated a three day intensive playground design workshop with 30 students from the Addis Ababa Institute of Architecture, Building and Construction (EiABC). These orginial and creative designs form the basis of the playground we are hoping to build in 2015. Out of the Box will aim to build a children's youth centre and early years day care centre from two disused shipping containers.
The Rewards
No matter how much you can afford to pledge, we've got some excellent rewards that we will send you as a thank you! If you'd like to pledge without claiming a reward, click the blue 'pledge' button at the top of the column on the right.
Here are just a couple of examples...
If you donate £50 we will send you a beautiful handwoven scarf, bought directly from a market in Addis Ababa!
Ethiopia is the true home of coffee and Ethiopians take coffee drinking very seriously! For £100 we will send you a traditional 'jebena' to make coffee Ethiopian style!
Take a look on the list on the right-hand side to see all of the rewards available >>
We hope you can help us to make the project a reality by making a donation or helping us to spread the word.
Thank you & Amesege'nallo!
from the Out of the Box team
