Young People Building Playgrounds for Children
Founded in 2014, Think Playgrounds! has evolved from a group of volunteers to into a social enterprise dedicated to finding simple, effective, and creative solutions for building playgrounds for children living in urban centers. Over 10 years, the group has constructed more than 200 playgrounds in Hanoi and various remote provinces.
Their operational approach is to persuade local communities to allocate public land for playgrounds. They work with architects to create suitable designs and build play equipment from recycled materials to ensure safety, durability, and creativity. As well as building playgrounds, the group also organizes activities such as Playday to raise public awareness, and workshops to expand their network of participants and works with the media to gain support from the authorities.
The June Kindness Bus Rolls Out
The June Kindness Bus, supported by Truong Hai Thaco Corporation and Think Playgrounds, has brought an exciting playground to children in a suburb of Hanoi.
Despite the scorching summer heat in Hanoi, the Kindness Bus made its way to the workshop to meet Nguyen Tieu Quoc Dat (co-founder of Think Playgrounds) as he put the finishing touches on the seesaws for a playground in Tang My village, Nam Hong commune, Dong Anh district, Hanoi.
The connection that brought the Kindness Bus to Tang My village, Nam Hong commune, Dong Anh district, is quite fascinating. Ms. Huong, a resident, proactively contacted Mr. Dat to propose building a playground there. She also voluntarily contributed VND5 million to make this dream come true. With the support of the Kindness Bus, the children of Tang My village will now have a summer playground..
The area designated for the playground in Tang My village is currently an empty lot with no play equipment, except for one or two small businesses selling mung beans. This area is used as the village's public space. There are 500-600 children in the village, 10 of whom are disabled.
After a 30-minute drive, the June Kindness Bus arrived in Tang My village with environmentally friendly play equipment. Local youth volunteers helped install the seesaws, and the children eagerly painted them in their favorite colors. Additionally, members of the village Women's Union cleaned up, planted flowers, and beautified the playground. Even with just a few pieces of play equipment, the playground promises to bring a fantastic summer for the children here.
Seeing the smiles on the children's faces, Mr. Dat said, "This is our joy - those of us who build community playgrounds".
