Global Playground's school in Uganda has officially opened and welcomed its first class. Forty kindergarten students are now regularly attending class, with students in P1 through P5 expected to matriculate by early 2009. Ultimately, the school will serve nearly three hundred students from six villages, including the village of Buwasa in which the school is located.

The school is a joint undertaking of Global Playground and Building Tomorrow, a nonprofit that operates in Uganda. Global Playground has provided $33,500, the
lion's share of the cost to build the school,
while Building Tomorrow has overseen the school's construction. The school is constructed of high-quality brick on a foundation of clay and contains eight rooms fronted by a portico. Seven of the rooms will be used as classrooms and the eighth will double as a library and the principal's office. "The school will give students the opportunity to advance as high as P7," said Edward Branagan, Global Playground's executive director.

Global Playground faced many challenges in bringing its first project to fruition. Construction began in September 2007, one month after the land for the school was acquired. During the next nine months, however, a series of delays ensued, resulting from difficulties in acquiring construction materials and increases in material, construction, and transportation costs. Unrest from the 2007 presidential election in neighboring Kenya drove transportation costs higher by causing fuel prices in Uganda to soar. Additionally, Uganda suffered from poor weather conditions during its rainy season, further delaying construction.

Uganda's Ministry of Education was supposed to provide seven teachers and a headmaster for the school by May 2008. But the ministry "just didn't allocate enough teachers [in time]," said Branagan. So far, the ministry has only provided two teachers and the headmaster but has committed to providing the remaining five teachers in time for the new academic term beginning in January 2009. The difficulties in getting teachers, noted Branagan, are representative of "something that occurs in the developing world. Government [agencies] aren't as reliable as they are [in the United States]."

Global Playground has high but realistic hopes for the school. With sixty percent of Uganda's population under age eighteen, "there's a huge market and demand for school[ing]," said Branagan. If too many children are in a class though, "it can detract from the educational experience of others. The idea is to have reasonable class sizes of around forty," said Branagan, who noted that in May 2009, Global Playground intends to send representatives to Uganda to check on the school again and to see it in full swing.

Once fully operational, the school will not operate in a vacuum but rather as part of Global Playground's network of schools. "The key is definitely for this [school] to be part of a network of cross-cultural exchange," said Doug Bunch, Global Playground's chairman. The seeds of this exchange were planted last January when Becca Sacra, a teacher at P.S. 261 in Brooklyn, New York, traveled to Buwasa and brought video footage of her students to show to the Ugandan children. In the future, Global Playground hopes to link the school with the students at Global Playground's other project sites in Cambodia and Thailand.

"Our vision, down the line, is to create a small network of schools" where a "child from Cambodia or Uganda can engage in some sort of cross-cultural communication," Branagan said. "The idea is to allow students the opportunity to engage in an exchange with someone who is different than themselves." Through this exchange, Global Playground hopes that children will obtain a greater understanding of themselves and others.

-Jon Heifetz

Global Playground is pleased to present its 2007-2008 Annual Report. The Annual Report details our successes and challenges over the past year and our vision for the next several years. We thank all of the donors and supporters who have made our work possible, and we invite you to read more about what we have accomplished. Come help us build it... one school at a time.

This past year, Becca Sacra, a teacher at P.S. 261 in Brooklyn, New York and a Global Playground volunteer, proposed building another Brooklyn Bridge. Rather than merely spanning Brooklyn and Manhattan, this bridge would span more than 7000 miles and connect her third-grade students with the students at Global Playground's school in Buwasa, Uganda. While the original Brooklyn Bridge was described as the "eighth wonder of the world" when it was built, how would her students and the Ugandan students describe each other? What would each learn, and what similarities or differences would each notice?

With the belief that teaching cross-cultural awareness is becoming increasingly important in our ever-more interconnected world, Ms. Becca (as she is known to her students) wanted to take advantage of her trip to Uganda. She proposed videotaping her students in class 3-315 talking about their lives and asking students at Global Playground's school in Uganda about theirs. Class 3-315 responded eagerly to Ms. Becca's proposal; the students brainstormed their questions for homework and then the next day in class practiced asking their questions.

When the videotape began to roll, the children were definitely not camera-shy! They asked:

What kinds of food do you eat?
What games do you play?
Who are you friends with?
What do you want to be when you grow up?
What do you do for fun?
What do you learn about?
Do you feel special about yourself?

The children were also eager to share their hopes and dreams for their futures and their personal stories. "I have a mama, a papa, and a little sister," said one child. Another said, "Here is my school. We love to play outside to get out all of our energies!" By the end of the day, the children were squirming with excitement about how the Ugandan children would respond.

Ms. Becca premiered the video this past January in Uganda under the shade of tropical trees and with the assistance of a laptop. "The Ugandan children were completely enthralled. They had never seen a movie before, let alone the ethnic diversity of our fabulous cast of characters!" said Ms. Becca. "More than just the children were interested. Adults also gathered around, poking their heads above the mesmerized crowd of children."

In addition to the ethnic diversity of Ms. Becca's class and the movie itself, the Ugandan students were amazed by America's schools. "They could not believe the incredible resources available in the classroom," said Ms. Becca. "To get a sense of what they must have been feeling, you would have to imagine looking at America's classrooms through the eyes of a child who has no electricity or running water and knows nothing other than walking more than six miles to arrive at a school with open windows and a dirt floor." Although this cross-cultural exchange in part highlighted the abundance in America, it also served as a reminder of how much people throughout this world have in common. "Well, maybe with the exception of homework," said Ms. Becca. One of her students, Shakiem, said to the Ugandan students, "I don't like homework. Do you like homework?" The answer from the Ugandan students: a resounding "Mmmm . . . Yes!"

Ms. Becca also spent time videotaping the Ugandan students. "No, we have no TV, but we love football and volleyball," said one student. "We do not have jump ropes, but we love to jump with these," another student said while holding tied-together banana fibers. And despite their poverty, the children have high hopes for the future. Many dream of becoming drivers, police officers, nurses, teachers, doctors, and lawyers.

When class 3-315 viewed the video of the Ugandan students, they were as fascinated as their peers in Uganda had been. Students instantly noticed that all of the girls had short hair and wondered why this was so. "I learned that they don't have as many toys to play with, but they still have fun," said Mya. "If you think about it," said Pace, "you don't need a lot of stuff to play most of my favorite recess games. . . . You just need other kids!"

The video of the Ugandan students also led to more questions from her students, prompted interesting discussions, and spurred Ms. Becca's students to action. "Where do they go to the bathroom and how do they take showers?" Angus wanted to know. "This spurred a discussion about the availability of water in America and the need to not take water for granted," recalled Ms. Becca. After learning from one Ugandan student that his entire village could not afford a single soccer ball, class 3-315 immediately became problem solvers and started developing fundraising ideas.

By merely videotaping students in Brooklyn and in Uganda, the traditional boundaries of distance were momentarily erased. Students in both places were able to see and hear what other children sound like in their learning environments. This sort of cross-cultural exchange is exactly what Global Playground hopes to achieve when it builds a virtual playground that will connect its students around the world. By connecting people, even with a virtual bridge, peace and understanding become a real possibility.

- Doug Smith in collaboration with Becca Sacra

For more information about Global Playground or to view excerpts from the cross-cultural exchange between Ms. Becca's students and the students in Uganda, click here. You may also e-mail Ms. Becca at becca.sacra@theglobalplayground.org.

On a sunny Saturday afternoon in late April, the Bologna Center of Johns Hopkins University's Graduate School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) hosted an unconventional fundraiser for Global Playground: a mock Olympiad. While competition in the events of this Olympiad would more likely be found outside Global Playground's schools than in Beijing's Water Cube or Bird's Nest, these games nonetheless exemplified the Olympic spirit by blending sport with culture and education.

The games--held in Parco Talon on the outskirts of Bologna, Italy--featured more than one hundred SAIS students competing in team events on behalf of little-known countries such as Vanuatu in the South Pacific. Spirited competition ensued from the outset. In the games' first event, Team Guatemala showcased its athletic abilities with a resounding victory in the egg-spoon relay, advancing its unscrambled "baton" beyond the finish line dozens of egg-lengths ahead of the nearest competitor. "The outcome was never in doubt," declared Guatemala's Rob Miller. "And criticism that our egg spent less time on a spoon than it did bouncing along the ground was uncalled for. Egg intact, we crossed the line first. Should Team Cyprus lodge a formal protest, we'll fight it to the bitter end."

Other events included a three-legged race, which left more than a few students sprawled across the grass; skin-blistering battles of tug-o'-war; intercontinental dodgeball; and a bat spin relay with a "twist." Amidst these "formal" events, impromptu wrestling matches and egg tosses broke out while a motley band of musicians strummed guitars and hummed tunes. Spectators, most of them local Italians who thought they were only out for a leisurely day at the park, grew in number throughout the afternoon, reaching their peak during the fiercely competitive dodgeball tournament.

Ultimately, the purpose of all this madness was not mere folly. "These Olympic games took advantage of my classmates' penchant for having fun and making positive contributions to the global community," said Edward Branagan, a Global Playground board member and one of a handful of organizers for the Olympics. "And what a contribution the SAIS students made to Global Playground! With each participant paying a ten-euro entry fee, these games raised more than $1600, or nearly ten percent of the funds needed to help Global Playground build a new, five-room middle school for the children of Cambodia's Koh Khel village."

More than the mock Olympiad links Global Playground and the Bologna Center, which was founded in 1955 to educate future leaders to reach beyond national boundaries and biases. Both entities share an objective of promoting cross-cultural understanding and believe that the answers to the world's myriad problems lie in education. The latter is particularly true in Cambodia. Hampered by years of civil war and the extermination of its teachers and educated elite during the late 1970s, Cambodia remains a land where quality education is a rarity. The country is heavily dependent on foreign aid and will only break the cycle of dependence after developing an educated, empowered populace.

At the end of the day, the 2008 Bologna Center Olympic Games were a smashing success. Buoyed by the perfect weather and a beautiful setting, students escaped their books and the claustrophobic porticos of central Bologna for an afternoon of fresh air and physical exertion. Bruises and blisters notwithstanding, the physical activity did everyone good, including the children in Cambodia. Although Team India officially won the gold, narrowly besting Team Guatemala, a SAIS student summed up the games nicely when announcing the results: "Congratulations! You're all winners. And so are the kids of Cambodia."

- Ryker Labbee

With the Cambodian school project more than sixty percent complete, Global Playground announces its third project. In conjunction with the Samsara Foundation, Global Playground will build a $13,385 library for an existing school in northern Thailand.

In May 2007, board members Doug Bunch and Edward Branagan met with the executive director of Samsara -- a NGO based in Chiang Mai, Thailand -- to learn about educational issues in Thailand and to discuss potential projects. They learned that although southern and central Thailand have experienced relatively high levels of educational development, the northern and eastern regions have lagged far behind in comparison. Enhancing access to education for children in those regions is now a key goal for both the Thai government and Global Playground.

With the support of local communities and the Thai Ministry of Education, Samsara has built educational infrastructure, such as dormitories and libraries. It has also cultivated relationships with more than one hundred public schools in the Mae Hong Song province of northern Thailand. According to Edward Branagan, "The close, well-established, and extensive relationship that Samsara has with the Thai Ministry of Education and the local hill-tribe communities, along with its proven track record, make it an ideal partnering organization for Global Playground."

The library will benefit the "hill-tribe" communities, or ethnic minority groups, which predominantly populate northern Thailand, and whose children remain at school throughout the week given the long distances that they must travel to attend school. "With the opening of the library, children will be able to pull a book down from the shelves, place it on a table, and sit down to discover a whole new world," said Doug Bunch. "It will be great that these children will have a place to continue their studying and learning after normal school hours."

Construction of the library will begin in early November and is expected to be completed by February 2009. Global Playground intends to visit the project site in early January 2009 and hopes that shortly thereafter the library can be used as a platform to initiate cross-cultural communications among children in Thailand, Cambodia, Uganda, and wherever Global Playground goes next!

Learn more about the Thailand project here.

Are children in Africa better off than they were a year and half ago when Global Playground did not exist? To answer that question, we traveled more than 7000 miles to visit with the children of six villages within the Wakiso District of Uganda. When we arrived, these children did not know our names. They barely understood from where we had come. They nonetheless immediately wrapped their arms around our legs and held our hands, for we had finally come. We were the ones. The ones who had brought them hope. The ones who had brought them a brighter future and a longer life. The ones who had brought them a school.

If you had joined us on our trip to visit the six villages that will benefit from Global Playground's first school, the following is what you would have experienced. So come and imagine the fanfare that would have surrounded your arrival and experience the hope that you--as a supporter of Global Playground--have brought to the children in Uganda. This is what supporting Global Playground is all about.

As Global Playground's van turns off the main road and heads down a dusty, dirt road toward four of the villages, you see tropical trees and mud-sided huts flanked by chickens, pigs, and half-clothed children playing in the dirt. You bounce around as the van slowly makes its way down the pot-hole-ridden road, and you turn your attention to a woman and a child alongside the road. "We're coming! We're coming! Can you give us a ride?," the woman says. That instant you realize that the village leaders have gotten wind of your arrival and have "mobilized" their entire villages to greet you.

Turning quickly around in your seat to the sounds of cheers and laughter, you see a few children beginning to run full speed after the van. "Muzungu! Muzungu!," they cry out after seeing someone different looking than themselves for perhaps the first time in their lives. Those children are then quickly joined by others who dart out from the tropical trees lining the road. Soon a hundred or more bare-footed children are running full speed after the van, cheering and waving. Upon reaching the school, you see a large crowd, numbering in the hundreds, all gathered in a clearing. The emotions are overwhelming. Tears begin welling up in your eyes as the cheering and clapping outside the van reaches a crescendo.

Thunderous applause and cheers greet you as you step out of the van. You are quickly surrounded by dozens of children whom you begin greeting. Shaking hands quickly becomes difficult, as a few children grasp onto your legs and hold onto your arms. The next thing you know you are escorted to furniture set up in a clearing shaded by banana trees. The furniture is not fancy by any means, but it's the best they have; they've carried it from a mile away or more and covered it with delicate croqueted linens peppered with holes. You sit like a celebrity amidst hundreds of people whom you had never met.

As you sit, you see workers laying brick for the school in the African heat and the beautiful colors of the dresses worn by the African woman glistening in the sun; they have worn their best for your arrival. The village leader introduces himself and members of the construction committee. In the native tongue, he speaks about how thankful his village is for the school and Global Playground's efforts, which have brought his village much hope. You are then asked to stand and introduce yourself. The emotional outpouring leaves you at a loss for words, but words need not be conveyed. You are the one. You are part of Global Playground. You are the one who has helped bring them a school.

"Happy we are . . . Happy we are today!," one group of children comes forth singing while swaying and swinging their arms. Another group follows, kicking up the dirt with their bare feet and shrugging their shoulders to "Ca . . . lyp . . . so!" Yet another group follows. They point to themselves while cheerfully and melodically proclaiming, "We . . . We are the futcha leaders of Ganda." There you sit, attentively watching group after group of girls and boys welcoming your arrival with singing and dancing. For nearly an hour, you see their parents proudly watching and clapping along with their children. Then out of the trees a man emerges carrying a linen-covered tray full of sodas; he hands you one. Seeing the abject poverty of these people, you realize the significance of this gesture and drink every last drop. Fully refreshed, it's now time for you to sing a song or two and learn how to dance the African way. Your songs are much different than theirs and evoke much laughter and applause, only to be eclipsed later by the laughter brought about by your feeble attempts to shake your hips to the beat of the music.

You are then invited to tour the school, which is under construction. The children follow eagerly behind you as you make your way down the red dirt road and into the school's courtyard. As you walk around the school, two little boys hold your arm while a girl holds your hand. One of the boys then introduces you to his father who is standing on lashed-together log scaffolding and laying brick for the school. "I work here without pay so my son can learn and have a bright future. He will get the education that I could not," he says. Continuing to walk around the school, you see a child piling bricks into a wheelbarrow and driving it around to the back of the school where his father is working. He makes several trips, with the wheelbarrow precariously close to toppling over each time. At one point, you stop and help him push the wheelbarrow over a large bump. Without saying a word, he continues on, focused on the task at hand.

With the sun setting, you say goodbye to your new friends. "Welaba! Webare! Webare!," they say in their native tongue while cheering and waving. On the hour's drive back to Kampala, the capital of Uganda, you replay the day's events in your mind. Only if you could do more than you have. The need is greater than you could have imagined.

The next day, you visit the other two villages whose children will attend Global Playground's school. Like the day before, you are emotionally overwhelmed by the village members cheering your arrival. Again, you sit in the shade on the finest furniture brought from their houses. Again, you are treated like a celebrity and listen to the village leaders. "So I got the information of you coming here today . . . but I had a problem. . . . I was around nine miles away so I rushed from there so that I meet you here. I am very glad to meet you. Thank you for your coming. I heard you are building a school to develop our area . . . . So I thank you for that. You have many kids here who are orphans and not orphans who will benefit from that school. And more so we parents because as you see we are poor somehow but trying to develop. I am proud to let you know that we are a collaborator village. . . . So we are ready to collaborate with you in whatever kind of things."

After the village leader speaks, you are treated to sugar cane, jack fruit, and another festive celebration. A solo drummer beats his drum, as groups of boys and girls come forth, singing and dancing in bare feet and brightly colored, yet tattered, clothing. Around their waists they wear brightly colored sashes, which are worn only during special occasions. As clouds of dust fill the air from the dancing, you are told that many of the songs have been specifically prepared for your arrival. They sing: "We are overjoyed that you are here. We did not believe you would ever come."

After the singing and dancing, several mothers come forth to sit on the ground before you. They do not say a word but begin weaving crafts--elaborate baskets and mats. The baskets are in beautiful green and white geometric patterns and made of banana fibers. The village leader invites you to inspect their work and to ask them questions. It takes nearly an entire day to make a basket, which will earn only 5,500 Ugandan Shillings or $3 at market. The village leader proudly announces that these mothers came together and traveled dozens of miles to attend a workshop so they could learn how to make crafts. Their driving purpose: to sell their goods at market so their children can have books and school supplies at the Global Playground school.

A few children then invite you to tour their village. Snapping a few pictures, the children are fascinated by your digital camera. Several times they request their picture to be taken, nearly all never having seen a photograph of themselves. You graciously accept their request and take their picture. No one recognizes themselves in the picture until their friends point them out. They then laugh and smile and tug at your hand to get a closer look. At times, you allow them to snap a few pictures of their own; they quickly adapt to the technology and are eager to learn. During your tour, your discussion turns from how they live, to how they farm, to football--their version of soccer. "Do you like to play football?," you ask. "Mmmmm . . . yes," they answer while raising their eyebrows and lifting their chins to the sky. "But we have no ball."

You return to the center of the village and show the children the school supplies that you have brought for them. You hold up crayons, pencils, globes, calculators, construction paper, and scissors. You hand each child a pencil. Child after child clutches his or her new possession with two hands and pulls it in tight to his or her heart as an expression of happiness, excitement, and an insatiable eagerness to learn. With the globes, you show them where you live and, for perhaps the first time, where they live in our world.

What is the recipe for the best Christmas ever? For some, the warm and sleepy feeling of a stomach full of Christmas cookies and other delights. For others, a shortage of outlets to plug in their new gadgets. For the Beard family in western Virginia, largely dispensing with exchanging gifts this past Christmas and instead collectively making a donation to Global Playground.