Right To Play is an international charity that believes, as I do in the power of play. They focus on children and on sports, activities, and games. I would love to extend this to all ages - not only children need play, in fact there seems to be some strange notion that as we get older, we're no longer allowed to play, we even lose the fundamental ability to play. I would also like to focus the notion of "play" specifically the theatrical play, which I believe encompasses and magnifies many of the positive outcomes of sports and more traditional playground games. (I'm pretty sure I'm not using any of the right language here... need to look more into this..) Theatrical play is physical (can be just as exhausting as a soccer match or flag football), it's funny, it's risky, there are goals, players, strategies, teams, the need for group cooperation and communication, physical awareness, it gets us talking and problem-solving, it boost confidence, fosters respect, it's a place to examine, explore and discuss community and the individual, and to work our empathy muscle.
Right to Play does have programs in Rwanda. We should look into partnering with them or, at the very least, learning form the incredible work they do.
This feels a little bit like "they can't do it right, let's teach them", but still, really interesting:
Clarification: My thought is that this project is not necessarily about teaching or preaching. I believe that learning is inherent in the exercises and relevant to human beings everywhere.
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