PlayRights Magazine- Access to Play in Crisis, July 2015 by ipaworld

ACCESS TO PLAY

IN CRISIS

TORN FROM HOME

Istanbul Workshop

Halabja

Community Play Project

Art & Child’s Play

ISSUE 1:15 JULY 2015

International Play Association Promoting the Child’s Right to Play

OFFICERS President Theresa Casey Scotland Vice President Robyn Monro-Miller Australia Secretary Margaret Westwood Scotland Communications Cynthia Gentry USA Treasurer David Yearley UK Development Kathy Wong Hong Kong Membership Mike Greenaway Wales

COUNCIL Australia Brazil Canada England, Wales, N. Ireland (EWNI) Germany Hong Kong Israel Japan Malaysia Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Russia Scotland Sweden Turkey USA

(BRANCHES) Barbara Champion Belisa de Freitas Pereira Pierre Harrison Paul Hocker Holgar Hoffman Dr. C. B. Chow Sheana Braizblatt Yoko Kitagawa Susie Ching Mey Madhur Sharma Froukje Hajer Scott Mackenzie Maria Sibireva Andrew Shoolbread Cristina Wahlund Nilsson Ayse Pinar Gürer Dorothy Sluss

U N R E P R E S E N TAT I V E Roger Hart

E D I TO R :

Cynthia Gentry (USA)

Magazine feedback: We welcome your comments and suggestions at communications@ipaworld.org. All inquiries regarding the reproduction of any material which appears in PlayRights for any purpose whatsoever should be directed in writing to the editor. The views expressed in articles within PlayRights are those of the authors and not necessarily those of IPA. The publishers, authors and printers cannot accept liability for errors or omissions. © 2015 IPA

What the International Play Association is and how you can join International Play Association Promoting the Child’s Right to Play

IPA is a dynamic international organisation with members in five continents and more than 40 countries. It has active groups throughout the world and enthusiastically welcomes new members and new energy! IPA’s purpose is to protect, preserve and promote the child’s right to play as a fundamental human right. The organisation was instrumental in establishing “play” (article 31) in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and in developing the general comment on article 31 for the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. IPA recognises that the well-being of children is a global issue, and that opportunity for play is an important element of well-being. Play is children’s natural behaviour and their healthy development is dependent upon sufficient time and opportunity to play.

P L A Y R I G H T S • I P A W O R L D . O R G

IPA is an interdisciplinary organisation bringing together people from all professions working for and with children. For over fifty years national groups have initiated a wide variety of projects that promote the child’s right to play. IPA’s worldwide network promotes the importance of play in child development, provides a vehicle for interdisciplinary exchange and action and brings a child’s perspective to policy development throughout the world. IPA welcomes you, or your organisation, to join its international network and participate in its campaign to promote the value of play around the world. You can contact IPA through your national representative listed on our website. Visit ipaworld.org, or email the IPA Membership Officer at membership@ipaworld.org.

22 4 5 6 8 11 12

PRESIDENT’S LETTER LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

A CHILD’S EYE VIEW IN CRISIS TORN FROM HOME

MY CHILDHOOD IN A REFUGEE CAMP HALABJA COMMUNITY PLAY PROJECT

FEBRIK: PLAY AND THE URBAN CONTEXT

FOUR DAYS IN MAY: IPA’S 19TH WORLD CONFERENCE IN ISTANBUL

ACCESS TO PLAY IN CRISIS: THE ISTANBUL WORKSHOP

IPA GOES TO LEBANON: THE ACCESS TO PLAY IN CRISIS PROJECT MOVES FORWARD

IN MEMORIUM

IPA ORGANIZATIONAL NEWS

HOMS, SYRIA: CHILDREN PLAYING IN THE MIDST OF WAR

ART AND CHILD’S PLAY: SERIOUS TOOLS FOR HEALING Most photos pages 3 - 11 appear courtesy of Stacey Mann.

J U LY 2 0 1 5

Letter

During the IPA World Conference in Istanbul I was given three different pins, each symbolic of very particular moments and realities. The first pin was the black ribbon worn in remembrance of the mining disaster in Soma, just a week before our conference. We shared in the grief and sadness felt by our hosts in Turkey when the shock of the tragedy was still very raw. We reflected on times when IPA members in different parts of the world had called upon the restorative qualities of play following natural and man-made disasters; how play could help to bring communities together; how finding moments of hope and joy are so powerful when things looked very bleak. Play at such times is not about distracting children from what is happening, but about allowing them space and time to respond in their own way. The second pin I wore was given to me by Mayor Khder Kareem of Halabja, Iraq, a Mayors for Peace Ambassador. It was a golden design of the Halabja Memorial Monument. Mayor Kareem spoke powerfully to the conference of his hopes for peace in communities that have felt devastating loss. In such communities surely recognising children’s need and right to play reflects, at a fundamental level, one of the reasons IPA continues to work for play. It is to understand that children should be able to enjoy their childhood and that

from the president

without play, their present and their future is impoverished. On a very different note, the third pin I was given was of the white cowboy hat of Calgary. I loved the story of the white hatwearing gentlemen riding their horses into town and how the white hat became a symbol of hospitality and welcome. IPA Canada and the City of Calgary were declared the host of the 20th IPA Triennial World Conference and will welcome our members from around the world in 2017. In addition to the white pin I was given a real white hat – which travelled from Calgary to Istanbul and back home to Scotland. For many delegates at the conference, the Halabja Community Playground project embodied the attention we hoped to draw to our special theme of Access to Play in Crisis. With this theme, we started to look at the principles, challenges and key concepts for supporting the play rights of children in very difficult circumstances. We began with the paragraph in the General Comment on article 31 in which the UN talks of the need for play in situations of humanitarian or man-made disasters, conflict and displacement. In the IPA special workshop on the theme, it became obvious that disregard for children’s play rights in situations of crisis is reckless indeed. Theresa Casey IPA President

P L A Y R I G H T S • I P A W O R L D . O R G

letter

from the editor

I awoke my first morning in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina to bright streams of light piercing the dark bedroom through shrapnel holes in the shutters. It was a couple years after the war in Bosnia had ended and I was there with the ArtReach Foundation to paint murals in an elementary school recently renovated by the Egyptian government. I wondered if the young daughter of my host had been in that room when the shrapnel did its damage. Those holes completely unnerved me even though the war was over, I was an adult, and was completely safe. How must she have felt? Until that visit, war had been an abstract notion for me. I grew up in the United States and war was “over there;” it was on television; it was in the museums; it was in books. But, in Bosnia it was in the eyes of everyone I met. It was evident everywhere I looked. I met a gentleman with the most beautiful twinkling blue eyes I had ever seen. But, I couldn’t escape the depth of sadness underneath the sparkle. Later I was told that during the war his wife and two daughters had gone out to buy some bread. They never returned. I tried to imagine living day-to-day with the steady onslaught of horrors that befell the people of Sarajevo. How could the children be expected to handle that? The intensity of that exercise touched my life forever – though the war was already over, I was an adult, and was completely safe. How can children who are not safe cope with such loss and how can they hold up under the constant pressure of “toxic stressors” like war, poverty, displacement, and other crises? The importance of this problem is growing rapidly. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) recently released a study showing that almost 60 million people are either refugees or IDPs (internally displaced persons). This is the highest rate since World War II and double what it was just a few years ago. Extensive research from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University reveals the lifelong damage done to children by such experiences. The damage is profound. I wondered if play might help aleviate the pain and fear. Understanding the effects of such trauma has inspired IPA to focus on access to play for children in crisis situations. We want to discover the best ways to use play to ease their journey and to help them tap into their natural resilience. This issue of PlayRights Magazine is the first of several issues over the next few years that will address this topic. It all began with a workshop at our Triennial Conference in Istanbul last year and is being developed further now. We have no idea where this exploration of access to play in times of crisis will take us. We believe that it is important to explore the vast amount of knowledge and experience throughout the membership of IPA and beyond to see what we can uncover to help the children in crisis today. We believe that sharing what we find with everyone who needs it will go far to promoting the importance of play throughout the world, and most importantly it will help children in this time of worldwide upheaval and stress. Cynthia Gentry Communications Officer and Editor

J U LY 2 0 1 5

A Child’s Eye View of Life in Crisis Hanna Levy-Haas in Bergen Belsen acknowledged the nightmarish surrounding, yet noted that children’s yearning for play naturally burst forth even amidst the horror. She saw it as an instinctual, an almost atavistic impulse embedded in the human consciousness: ”I feel it is an urge that springs from the soul of the children themselves,” she wrote in 1944, “for they follow my lead in their excitement, they show their desire to live, to play, a desire stronger than they are themselves.” – George Eisen, Children and Play in the Holocaust: Games Among the Shadows (1988)

P L A Y R I G H T S • I P A W O R L D . O R G

In 2008, an exhibit at the Lied Discovery Children’s Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA (now the Discovery Children’s Museum) attempted to help children find the answer to the question, “What does it mean to be a refugee?” The exhibit provided their answers through the lens of the experience of refugee children. From the experience of losing a home, to living in a camp, to fetching food and water, visitors were asked to consider how it might feel to leave everything you know behind when you are forced to flee your home. The traveling exhibit provided 8- to 12-year-old children with a balanced introduction to the plight of refugees, and people of all ages with an inspiring learning experience about the importance of human rights including the often-overlooked right to play. The exhibit creators collaborated with international and local refugee aid organizations to provide creative educational resources for venues, families, and schools as well as community outreach opportunities. The organizational partners who helped make the exhibit happen included: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops/Migration & Refugee Services

“Since the creation of the Torn from Home exhibit in 2008 the number of refugee children and families has grown to even more devastating degrees. Syria, Sudan, South Sudan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Burundi, and many other countries see ongoing mass displacement, disrupting livelihoods, identity, and security of place. Both chronic and new complex emergencies stretch resources past the breaking point. Torn from Home was our effort to make sure children understand the challenges facing children just like them every day. Bringing attention to how important play is to refugees helps people understand on a very basic level that we are all the same. It is our sincere hope that this project helps lead to growing awareness, compassion, and solutions towards the plight of refugee and displaced communities.”

Washington Office on Latin America

– Pam Omidyar, Founder, Humanity United

World Food Programme (WFP) International Rescue Committee (IRC) Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Save the Children World Vision Interfaith Refugee & Immigration Ministries (Chicago, Illinois) Lutheran Immigrant and Refugee Services Refugee Council USA

The photos across the top of the page are of the exhibit, and of the refugee and IDP children who graciously contributed their handmade toys to the the exhibit, for other children to see. To view more pictures, please visit ipaworld.org/access-to-play-in-crisis/.

The situation is indeed getting worse. In 2008, there were nearly 30 million refugees worldwide. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) recently reported that the total number has nearly doubled to almost 55 million in December 2014.

J U LY 2 0 1 5

Stacey Mann works as an exhibit and education experience designer. She consults nationally with museums and cultural institutions on how best to engage audiences both onsite and online. Her areas of expertise include the pedagogical (and playful!) design of learning environments, public interpretation of human rights and social justice issues, social and cultural capital in museums, and the intersection of civic engagement with media literacy. When I was first approached about developing Torn From Home, a children’s exhibition about refugee rights, I was intrigued, although not all together convinced that it was a good idea. I mean clearly, it was feasible – all it takes to build an exhibition is time and money. But was it reasonable? Was it responsible?

Anyone who has spent much time in children’s museums over the past decade (as I have) can sometimes have trouble distinguishing one from another: grocery store, check; doctor’s office, check; water table, check; music room, check. But then it occurred to me that what I missed most in the contemporary children’s museum landscape was recognition that kids are a lot smarter than we give them credit for. Why couldn’t an exhibit about what it means to be a refugee be designed to target young audiences and allow them to start exploring and understanding the world as global citizen? Our intrepid development team consisted of me; Linda Quinn, the Executive Director of Lied Discovery Children’s Museum; Elaine Bole, former spokesperson for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; and Pamela Omidyar, founder of Humanity United. Each of us brought to the project a range of personal and professional experiences that would help shape the exhibition over the course of almost two years. Our earliest conversations were perhaps some of the most influential as we began to challenge the notion of what is “appropriate” for children to learn about in today’s world. Emotional safety was critical, as was a narrative that focused on the resilience of the

TORN 8

P L A Y R I G H T S • I P A W O R L D . O R G

human spirit. Yes, to be a refugee meant to lose one’s home, one’s belongings, and sometimes one’s family members. But, the story was also about survival, working together, and defining universal human rights: safety, food, clean water, shelter, health care, education, and play. As a novice to the global refugee crisis, I had never been to a camp or, honestly, even met a refugee, at least not a recent one. At first, play seemed to me like an odd addition to our project requirements. But with every research interview I conducted, I heard similar stories from aid workers and refugees alike of seeing joy and hope in the broad smiles of children at play in these camps, surrounded by squalor. They spoke of a love of football (soccer) and singing, and the creativity of children crafting toys and musical instruments from anything from wood, to mud, to grass, to cans, to clothing, to flip flops. In order to accurately and honestly tell the story of these children, we set about collecting artifacts, stories, and reference materials – whatever we could find to serve as inspiration for us and for our audience of young learners and their families. We worked with agencies in the United States to locate refugee children here who might be willing to share their stories

and be included in the exhibition. Espoire Habimana (whose essay is featured here) was one of those children. Working with Espoire (whose name means hope in French) and his brother, Patrick, helped me better understand the complexity of emotion and experience that many of these families and in particular the children go through not only in their country of origin, but also in the uncertainty of the camps and the unfamiliarity of a new home in a new place. In our first conversation, Espoire spoke of his love of soccer. At the time Patrick was still very withdrawn and quiet, but with the introduction of a soccer ball to the exhibit photoshoot his eyes lit up and the brothers relaxed into a familiar banter. It was nothing less than beautiful. As we continued our research, I had the honor of traveling to the Kyangwali Refugee Camp near Hoima in Uganda, home to several thousand refugees from South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Through the coordination of UNHCR and the generosity of three local primary schools we were gifted with incredible toys, each crafted by one of the students. Some toys were sobering, carved machetes or finely detailed machine guns made of reeds and wood. Others

from Home Stacey Mann

J U LY 2 0 1 5

mirrored their new surroundings, replica cell phones, cameras and cars, like those used by aid workers and visitors to the camp. But the most precious were those that reflected a remarkable creative spirit and inspired pride in those that had created them. Many of the girls presented us with delicately constructed dolls and intricately woven mats. Many of the boys had constructed beautifully made balls from plastic bags and handwoven rope. One remarkable boy engineered a fully-functional steering wheel and drive shaft connected to a series of wheels that he could drive around the school yard. It was difficult to accept such gifts knowing how few resources these children had to begin with but they were pleased to know that their toys would be shared with children in another country as part of a project that would help share their experience as refugees. With our exhibition nearing completion, we invited the resettled families we worked with during development out to Las Vegas for the opening. We wanted them to see the final installation and get some honest feedback about whether we had accurately captured the key aspects of refugee life in a way that honored their experiences but still allowed visitors to engage meaningfully and safely with the content. As the families moved through the exhibition and were introduced to one another, there was suddenly a quiet commotion over near the Toys display. Espoire and Patrick had discovered the collection and were excitedly

P L A Y R I G H T S • I P A W O R L D . O R G

pointing at the phones, the cameras, and the balls describing the toys they had made when they were in the camps. Even more exciting was when they discovered we had an activity set up nearby to make soccer balls from plastic bags and rope. The withdrawn Patrick from months before was nowhere to be found. He and Espoire wasted no time schooling us in the proper ball-making techniques and showing off their remarkable skills; skills that were hard-earned and enabled them to create new worlds for themselves when their own was shaken to the core. This experience taught me more than I ever could have anticipated – about resilience, compassion, the capacity of the human spirit, and above all the power of play. Although I began the project as a play enthusiast (never met a puddle I didn’t love); I came out the other side a play advocate and play evangelist. Too often we see the benefits of play “ outweighed” by a perceived need for “real learning.” But exploratory and inventive play is the most real, born out of a curiosity about the world around us and a need to better understand it. Play helped the refugee children we met not only make sense of the world they were in, but also escape it when that was the only safe emotional outlet. It hardly seems hyperbole to argue that play can save lives.

LONG LIVE PLAY.

My Childhood in a Refugee Camp Espoire Habimana

I grew up in war conflicts believing that there was no hope for a better future for children. As a child in war conflicts, I lived in constant fear of war with no idea of how the conflict began in the first place. Children are the most vulnerable ones in these conflicts that they did not cause. War affects every aspect of a child’s development. Children impacted by armed conflict can be injured or killed, uprooted from their homes and communities, internally displaced or refugees, orphaned or separated from their parents and families, subjected to sexual abuse and exploitation, victims of trauma as a result of being exposed to violence, deprived of education and recreation, and at risk of becoming child soldiers. Many children like myself never knew what it was like to live in a peaceful democratic country. Somehow war became a new normal. I was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo during a war that has killed over 6 million innocent people over the past two decades. The war took the lives of some of the members of my family, friends, colleagues and neighbors. And, rape against women has become of the tool of the war. At an early age I found myself in a refugee camp where we had absolutely nothing. Our parents lost everything they had worked for their whole lives. As a child first you see the hopeless face of your parents. Nothing is a worse defeat in life than for children in conflict war to see their parents – whom they once saw as super heroes – as powerless and hopeless about the future.

My choice was to play soccer. Playing as a child was a refuge from all the misery that surrounded me. It was also a meditation that would take me to a fantasy world where I got to be very creative in finding ways to invent new games to play. Personally, I believe that the reason I never had trauma from the horror I faced as a child was because of playing. We used to play even though we sometimes did not get enough to eat. We used to make our own soccer balls out of plastic bags and clothing we could never wear again. Nothing felt better in the refugee camps than being the child who had the soccer ball or who knew how to make the good one that could bounce up higher. Looking back at trying to make the perfect ball, we forget how genius we became by trying new things. We used to take a balloon, fill it up with air, then cover it gently with plastic bags and cloth, then sew it up so that it would not break. Whenever we were not making these soccer balls we were running behind old car or bicycle tires with sticks in a game we used to call “driving a car.” As children in our situation nothing felt better in life than knowing you had the power to create something that was very useful. In the refugee camps, besides spending hours standing in line to fill large jugs with water, there was nothing else for children like myself to do besides playing outside. Most of us would only go indoors in the tents just to sleep.

One thing I believe helped me, as well as other millions of children who find themselves in these political conflicts, is playing.

J U LY 2 0 1 5

HALABJA C OMMUNITY PLAY

Halabja Community Play Project was awarded the IPA Right to Play Award at the IPA Triennial Conference in Istanbul, Turkey. – May 2014 12

P L A Y R I G H T S • I P A W O R L D . O R G

PROJECT

The Halabja Community Play Project is a collaboration that has led to the creation of the first adventure playground in Halabja, Iraqi Kurdistan. Since the project’s inception in 2009 an authentic partnership has developed between local children, families, neighbours, municipal authorities, and with the playwork professionals and volunteers from the United Kingdom. Together they have designed and built a unique and culturally specific play space, with the full participation of the children at every stage of the build. The aim of all involved is clear: to create a genuine adventure playground that is a challenging, inclusive and child-led space allowing children to be free, to create, to build, to play and to develop.

The Play Project responds to article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) that proclaims play as a universal human right. Play is essential to healthy childhood development, and the child’s drive to play is their mechanism to learn how to survive and flourish in the world around them. This project also embraces and promotes article 2 of the UNCRC that focuses on non-discrimination, article 3 on best interests of the child, and article 12 on respect for the views of the child. Halabja is a Kurdish town in southeast Kurdistan that makes up the northern part of Iraq. It has suffered chemical bombardment, civil war, poverty and a lack of infrastructure over the past three decades. Halabja is situated next to the Hewraman mountain range close to the border with Iran at the end of the fertile Sharazoor plain. This is a rich farmland where the Kurds have grazed their animals and grown their crops for thousands of years. A diverse community of Kurdish tribes and religions live in and around the city, which has a population of approximately 75,000. A growing young population, increase in road traffic, and a lack of safe places to play were the motivating factors for the J U LY 2 0 1 5

conception of the Halabja Community Play Project back in 2009. This pioneering community initiated and led the collaborative play project that is funded, co-constructed and supported by the UK charity formed to guide them. Kdher Kareem, the Mayor of the town, supported the project by donating land, trees and materials for the build. At the IPA Triennial Conference in Istanbul in May 2014, the Mayor said, “Empowering children to build a playground with their own hands is a special experience that will last a lifetime. To provide a place where they can play, undirected by adults – and to let them build an environment in safety, where they can make their own decisions about when and how they play – is to grant them real freedom.” This is the first project of its kind in Iraq. Halabja is recovering from war and devastation, and there are many parallels with the era of the construction of London adventure playgrounds in the 1950/60s. However, although this project shares elements with European adventure playgrounds, it is unique and sensitive to the specific needs and culture of the town. UK knowledge of theory, play types, adventure playground construction and the importance of a local playworker on site, has been combined with the knowledge and views of the local community to create a play space unique to the town. 14

P L A Y R I G H T S • I P A W O R L D . O R G

Acts of war and the aftermath are particularly hard on children and young people and although many organisations attempt to answer basic needs of those survivors for water food, shelter, too often there is no outlet through play for the children. The importance and benefits of playing, although often underestimated, are proven to be essential to children’s quality of life, growth and development, and have therapeutic benefits. This has particular significance to the children of Halabja who live amidst the traumatic effects of decades of war and suffering. The Halabja Play Project enhances the town by safeguarding an area for creative and dynamic play by children and young people. Halabja’s Mayor said, “Play can offer a way to change the environment that children had no part in destroying, and are often excluded from rebuilding.” The site contains large swings, earth mounds, and equipment and swings for children under five, a fire pit, climbing and jumping opportunities. Local materials and skills have been used innovatively including, for example, a giant plastic pipe slide, and a traditional vine-covered shaded area with native planting and seating for parents to socialise – providing a space for community ties to be strengthened. The site also contains a store full of loose parts, play equipment, tools and materials.

In comparison to the very limited, and often unfinished, standardized playgrounds or sports areas within Halabja which have been built by the municipality or outside agencies, this project has maintained a truly authentic partnership that has empowered the children and people of Halabja in a way they have not experienced before. Everyone’s commitment over the long period of gaining funding to complete the playground and their on-going investment of time, voluntary work and donations is testament to this. All of the work fundraising and building this project has been done on a voluntary basis, and all of the team members from the UK work unpaid – both at home and in Halabja. The Trustees of the charity have various ideas about replicating or spreading the project to other communities in the region, such as rolling out a mobile play service in out-lying villages and other deprived towns in the region, running a tailored playwork training programme with the town, to eventually creating a local or regional Play Association. Yet, they fully recognize the utmost importance of evolving projects slowly and gradually to maintain an approach of authentic partnership and true community ownership of any further initiatives. As

with the current site, any further sites or initiatives would be developed from the impetus of local people’s wishes and concerns and their full involvement. Children of all ages now play at the Halabja playground and the number of those accessing the site has increased. Changes in play behaviours have been observed as children work through trauma, and local support of all kinds has grown as more families have moved into the area. The Halabja Community Play Project was honored with the “Right to Play” award by the International Play Association for supporting access to play for children in crisis. The local play worker attended the International Play Association conference in Istanbul in May 2014 with the Mayor of Halabja and another community representative where together they accepted the IPA award from the IPA President Theresa Casey. Upon accepting the award, Mayor Kareem said, “The Halabja Community Play Project has gone a long way to making sure the children of Halabja are protected and respected. I am very proud of the achievements the children of Halabja have managed to complete through the project.” l

J U LY 2 0 1 5

FEBRIK

Play and the Urban Context Reem Charif, Mohamad Hafeda, joumana al Jabri

In 2003, Febrik’s team started working with children in Palestinian refugee camps in collaboration with local community institutions and UK based IF–[Untitled] architects.1 Through the use of a specific creative process the aim was to explore issues of refuge and identity with the children, in turn enhancing community participation and action within their immediate social and physical environment. The project began through a workshop in Burj El Barajne, a camp on the fringes of the densely populated city of Beirut, and continued through a series of workshops there and in 16

P L A Y R I G H T S • I P A W O R L D . O R G

other camps in Lebanon and later in Jordan. Through this process, Febrik developed a research methodology that revealed the formal and informal social practices of children and their families in the different refugee communities. While children in cities are accustomed to confined and defined play spaces, often labeled as ‘playgrounds,’ children in these camps use the entire expanse as their play space, establishing a hidden topography of play through their creative misuse of the architectural

elements around them. This finding suggests a reinterpretation of the playground, which led us to develop proposals for fragmented play spaces and structures that could be integrated into the fabric of a dense urban environment. In this article we introduce Febrik, our aims and methodology, and offer examples of our projects to date.

Febrik Febrik (www.febrik.org) is a not-for-profit collaborative platform for participatory art and design research projects with a focus on the dynamics and practices of public spaces and the negotiations of right of space of previously unrepresented community groups; with a particular interest in spaces of refuge and transition. Febrik has been researching social playgrounds and invented play as participatory and democratic practices that incite social dialogue and engagement. The exploration has taken place through a series of projects in Palestinian refugee camps in the Middle East and art based community projects in the UK. In the context of long-term refugee camps in the Middle East, Febrik explores creative educational methodologies that aim to develop culturally specific propositional and spatial solutions to social issues. This is achieved through facilitating dialogue for collecting, documenting and understanding the continuously changing practices within the camps, in the context of an evolving social and physical structure. Similarly, our work in schools is focused on immigrant communities in the UK. Here too, our process uses physical space as a point of departure. While Palestinian children’s experience is woven into global politics and is focused on the ‘right of return,’2 the children at a primary school in Hackney dealt with refuge on a personal scale, often feeling more at home in their new country than anywhere else. In turn our projects in schools explore the children’s identity within an interior private environment (family/home) and its public exterior backdrop (street/city). This article presents the work in the refugee camps due to its specific relevance to play and community learning.

Methodology

Children in these camps use the entire expanse as their play space, establishing a hidden topography of play through their creative misuse of the architectural elements around them. To achieve our goals we use participatory workshops with a special focus on children, leading to site-specific installations and programmatic interventions. Our process engages children as primary contributors, who in turn engage the adults. This is particularly the case in Play Space. The context of the research was often the children’s home, in turn the parents – notably the mothers, siblings and grandparents – were a part of the games and helped in the children’s documentation and discussion. They became spontaneously part of the process during some activities. While the process did not develop around and with adults on a primary level, we found that working with one segment of a tightly knit society lends itself to the indirect engagement of all segments of this society. In our current project, Edge of Play, we worked with adults directly by training youth centre staff and volunteers, mostly mothers or teachers. The project description that follows details this process. This project has allowed us to expand our scope from only working with children, to encouraging a more active role for adults. Our present design proposal for the Edge of Play social playground is maturing through consultations and community negotiations that work with the family at large. That said, the emphasis of our work has been developing with children as its nucleus. Our working methodology aims to regenerate a mental process of ‘thinking while making’, which questions societal norms, promotes diversity and individuality as well as perseverance and experimentation. This differs from teaching art through traditional methods

Febrik’s main area of concern lies in the dynamics of public spaces in relation to social and urban change. Its focus is on the use of the creative process (architecture, art, film, photography, text) to stimulate participation and action in the immediate environment. We aim to use the creative process as: a catalyst for discovering, analysing and responding to collective and personal concerns, practices, narratives, and dreams; a propositional tool for intervening in the social realm with the aim of designing change. The aim is to make a platform for creative practices that mirror and reflect contemporary life.

J U LY 2 0 1 5

which often reproduce a single ‘reality,’ limiting the world in the child’s eye and confining her or his imagination. The children develop an understanding of the camp through a process of research, discovery, narration and imagination. They document practices initiated by men, women, or children in the public realm of the camp (young people are rarely active users of those dense urban mazes). Their inventive use of architectural elements around them responds to the absence of designated play areas or playgrounds: a chair becomes a climbing tool, a grandmother’s interlocking washing lines become limits of cities to be crossed with paper planes, a dismantled swing allows for new swing forms and dripping water pipes inspire new ways for marking on surfaces. With their new insights, the children contribute to changing the reading of the camps through developed propositions. This is done with maps, collages and on-site installations. Their stories, drawings and interventions reveal an awareness of the missing resources and infrastructures within the camp, and map out different ways of moving through it. The temporary alteration in the function of a space opens up new potential for that space.

Grandma’s washing plane race Mohamad was lying on a bench watching his mother help his grandmother hang her washing on the spider web washing lines on their rooftop. Mohamad’s grandma visits every Monday. She brings her washing and spends the day with them cooking and chatting. On those days, the lines would be filled with clothes, creating small rooms as they intersect. The washing would sway and flow as the wind blew. At night, once the washing was dry, grandmother would pack it all up and go home, leaving the rooftop as one big empty space again. As he lay there watching them, Mohamad saw a boy on a rooftop a few buildings away, making and flying paper aeroplanes. He tried to make his own from his school notebook; he experimented with different shapes and sizes; after a series of trials, the shapes became a plane and the plane flew. Mohamad began to fly his planes and a game developed as he realised he could fly them over grandma’s washing lines that created boundaries with different compartments between them. He attempted to cross as many boundaries as possible, throwing a few planes at a time and seeing which one would go furthest. He tied the plane to a thread. And when he played again, he invited others to join him. Apart from looking at how children transform the limited camp spaces with their patterns and practices of play, our process looks at the way in which specific spatial environments prompt the 18

P L A Y R I G H T S • I P A W O R L D . O R G

invention of new games leading to different play spaces. A singlefunction urban space such as a passageway acquires new functions through the insertion of architectural elements or through the ‘misuse’ of those elements. The space becomes a field where negotiations between diverse users take place at different times of day. Physical appropriation of space gives way to a continuously dynamic exchange, removed from a dictated space use. During one day, public spaces transform from extensions of private interiors to conversation arenas, to celebration spaces, to play pockets. A window grill can become a purposely-designed rail for seated children acting as spectators, or a softball shoot for ball players. In this way, space is negotiated between different groups in the camp, especially addressing the adult/child and the female/ male dualities. Safety, proximity to home, unscheduled play (for example on their way to school) and the limitations and possibilities offered by the adults’ use of space all play a role in prompting the children’s transformation of public spaces. From the functional to the social and poetic, the children reveal that the reuse and multiuse of architectural elements offers great possibilities of play. Play, unaccounted for in the organic growth of refugee camps, becomes a key factor in understanding this negotiated space between children and adults.

The ‘playground’ is fragmented into camouflaged play pockets, to be discovered through the daily journeys of walking around the camp. Formalising the topography of play The research process starts with the children documenting their inherited and invented games. Drawings, mind-maps, models, live interviews and collages are used to ‘unravel’ the ingredients of the game and explore how they are made possible. Each child produces a ‘manual of play’, a step-by-step narrative of the history of the game and how it is played. This includes describing the physical elements needed (tall wall, hiding space, an open window, etc.); the social and human elements needed for the game (the number of players: do they all know they are playing, who are they?); their age; the time of day; the location; the social practice and phenomenon it is inspired by (e.g. electricity cuts, visits from grandma); and the way the body moves in space. (continued on page 38) J U LY 2 0 1 5

May

Four Days in

IPA’s 19th World Conference in Istanbul

P L A Y R I G H T S • I P A W O R L D . O R G

For four beautiful days in May of 2014 the 19th Triennial IPA World Conference was held in Istanbul, Turkey. IPA members and friends of play came from 37 countries around the world to a magnificent building built as a hospital in the mid-1800s. It is now home to our hosts the Faculty of Architecture for Istanbul Technical University Taşkişla Campus. The conference was organized by IPA partners Active Living Association with the theme of Access to Play. It was a memorable gathering as everyone celebrated the ratification of the General Comment (#17) on article 31 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and grieved for those lost in the mining disaster in nearby Soma, Turkey just days before our arrival. The conference tested a new concept for us: a one-day special workshop with the theme of Access to Play in Crisis. As IPA President Theresa Casey wrote, “(the tragedy in Soma) heightened our sense of urgency to focus attention on the importance of play for children in difficult circumstances.” Keynote speakers and session leaders alike inspired attendees each day, and as usual there were more fascinating talks available than one could possibly attend. The interest in the special workshop on access to play in crisis overwhelmed the seats available indicating a very high level of interest that was duly noted. As much as there was to learn and discuss in presentations, time was made at the conference for fun and for meeting new friends who share a common bond. Such was the experience at the President’s Reception that was held outdoors in the University Courtyard. One of the reception’s most exciting moments was the announcement of five new IPA branches: IPA Turkey, IPA New Zealand, IPA Nepal, IPA Netherlands and IPA Russia. Branches each elect a National Representative to the IPA Council so formation of a Branch is a very significant step. At the same time 69 new members joined the organization at the IPA desk. More interest was shown in branches in other countries as well, all indicating a growing interest in play and of being a part of such an engaged community of members. At the General Meeting the Board for 2014- 17 was elected with some familiar faces: Theresa Casey (President), Robyn MonroMiller (Vice President), David Yearley (Treasurer), Margaret Westwood (Secretary), Cynthia Gentry (Communications Officer), Mike Greenaway (Membership Officer) and Kathy Wong (Development Officer). The special efforts of some who have worked tirelessly on behalf of the child’s right to play were honored. Marilena Flores Martins of IPA Brazil was made an IPA Honorary Life Member. The first-ever Valerie Fronczek Globe Award was given to Lothar Krappmann of Germany for his leadership on the effort to bring the General Comment into being. The award is named in honor Venue photo appears courtesy of Veronica Casey.

of the late IPA Vice President who played such an integral part in building a worldwide awareness of what she once called “The Forgotten Article”. Also awarded were three IPA Right to Play Awards. Out of a record 21 nominations from 12 countries the winners were: - Halabja Community Play Project (Iraq) - Playful Gardens – Promeny Foundation (Czech Republic) - Beit Issie Shapiro Playground (Israel) The two Conference Resolutions announced were:

Play in Crisis This conference recognizes • that many children around the world live in ‘crisis situations’ the causes of which are out of their or their families’ control. They may be affected by natural and man-made disasters, and often have to deal with a range of losses; • that children may see their play spaces (including homes and schools) and relationships (including with friends and families) disappeared and find play opportunities restricted; • that despite the circumstances as perceived by adults, within the spirit of the children themselves, they may be in crisis in a way that is very real to them but invisible to adults. This conference believes • in the therapeutic, healing and enabling power of play, • that children are resilient, • that regardless of their circumstances children are entitled to exercise their right to play. This conference resolves • to continue developing our understanding of children in crisis situations; • to support them in any way we can to restore the normality of life through play; • to continue to promote the rights of the children, as expressed in General Comment 17 on article 31, and hold governments and responsible agencies to account.

Article 31 This conference welcomes and celebrates the adoption of the General Comment on article 31 “The child’s right to play”. (continued on page 39)

J U LY 2 0 1 5

ACCESS TO PLAY IN CRISIS An Enlightening First Step

Access to play in crisis is the special theme of IPA for the period of 2014 – 2017. For inspiration we draw upon the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the General Comment (#17) on article 31 paragraph 53 which states: “...in these situations (children in situations of conflict, humanitarian and natural disasters) opportunities for play, recreation and cultural activity can play a significant therapeutic and rehabilitative role in helping children recover a sense of normality and joy after their experience of loss, dislocation and trauma.” The IPA Special Workshop: Access to Play in Crisis was held at the IPA World Conference in Istanbul in May of 2014. This one-day workshop considered principles, challenges and design of play space for children in situations of conflict as well as in situations of humanitarian and natural disasters. It aimed to draw attention to the play needs and rights of children in situations of crisis and to draw together knowledge and expertise gained through practical interventions to support play. In the short time available it provided a platform for discussion amongst the participants each of who have particular experience, knowledge or expertise to share. The delegates came from nine countries. Sudeshna Chatterjee (India) and ric mcconaghy (Australia) facilitated the workshop. What follows are the workshop notes from two of the groups. More notes from other groups will appear on the IPA website ipaworld.org/access-to-play-in-crisis/.

was, of course, passionate, engaged, and articulate. Despite widely varying experiences from all over the world the focus on outcomes for children became the unifying medium. The group raised a series of issues to be considered including: Problem/Event

Impact

Nuclear power plant accident

Displacement, health issues due to restriction of playing outdoors, including obesity, physical development of small children, fear due to non-specific evidence of effects of radiation

Water – tsunami, flood, hurricane, earthquake

Displacement, loss of villages and areas for play, death, contamination

Fires – bushfires, wild fires

Devastation of all life forms, trees, wildlife, humans, access to natural resources

Civil war

Death, poverty, illiteracy rates due to disturbed and unsafe childhood, access to play denied, deterioration of law and order, psychological impacts, insecure food and water supplies, loss of parents, displacement, radiation impact on surrounding countries

Use of chemicals

Polluted food bowls, affected water supplies, changed nature of natural foods, affected insects that pollinate, commercialisation of food supply

Land use conflict

Displacement of habitat and communities

GROUP #1 The members of this group were: • ric mcconaghy, Playspace Designer, children’s advocate • Mine Göl-Güven, Bogaziçi University • Selim Iltus, Bernard van Leer Foundation • Erum Kamran, Children & Nature Network Asia • Senay Sevim, Turkish Red Crescent • Isami Kinoshita, Chiba University • Georgianna Duarte, University of Texas at Brownville We had a group with many cultures, languages, beliefs and philosophies. We needed time just to get to know each other and to get started, to connect, to understand. We needed to ensure everyone felt that they could contribute and be heard. This took time, patience, concentration and listening to stories. The group

P L A Y R I G H T S • I P A W O R L D . O R G

Notes compiled by ric mcconaghy.

WORKSHOP Having identified these crises we needed to determine a mechanism for organizing our response into a manageable format within the short time allowed, and to consider how to address the issues. It was decided to separate the events into natural events and man-made conflict. These events might also be separated into permanent and temporary impact.

It is also arguable that some natural events are exacerbated by man-made intervention. For instance, some would argue that bad urban planning allows human habitation in areas that are prone to natural events such as fire and flood, thereby exposing humans to risks they might not encounter if encouraged to build elsewhere.

Natural Events

Impacts across Natural Events and Man-Made Conflicts

The natural events included tsunamis, floods, bushfires, earthquakes, and extreme storm events. These events often receive large external support, but can also be reactive which can mean limited community engagement as things get done to the community, or for them, rather than with them. The main threats include temporary relocation of entire populations causing disunity, loss of hope, exploitation by vested interests (business, politics, other organizations), disparate approaches to problem solving, lack of resources for play due to its being perceived as not a valid concern in an emergency situation.

Man-Made Conflict These include conflicts such as those in Syria and Pakistan, which are leading to significant loss of life, displacement, injuries, poverty and exploitation, trauma and mental health issues, and further social unrest. These conflicts may be localised, but often affect regions and spill over into other countries. These also include disasters such as the Japanese nuclear power plant accident where radiation displaced many families and made an area of the country uninhabitable for a significant time.

Somewhat surprisingly the impacts were consistent across both natural and man-made events. Whether the event was a tsunami, civil war, or industrial accident, the impact was often community displacement (permanent or temporary), and disparate, uncoordinated responses. There was also a consistent lack of appreciation for the recuperative power of play, and hence a limited response in terms of resources and programmes. These “sticky note” items generated in the workshop were identified as applying to both natural events and man-made conflicts: Population relocation Loss of hope Exploitation by business No political will to fix the conflict Lack of resources Internal & external prejudice Dismissal of play as a valid concern Disparate opinions and approaches Perceptions of cultural disapproval and family and community expectations Total disruption of typical behaviours (decisions)

Istanbul J U LY 2 0 1 5

Solutions Major factors in successful response include awareness, training and collaboration.

• Hitoshi Shimamura, Tokyo Play • Emrah Kolukirik, Turkish Red Crescent • Selim Iltus, Bernard van Leer Foundation

With regard to political and religious organisations, they must be confronted with organized pressure in order to encourage them to keep their focus on the community and not their own agendas. With regard to NGOs, these need to be apolitical and have appropriate training of both volunteers and professionals in order to be responsive to and sensitive with communities in crisis situations. Furthermore, when NGOs leave we need to ensure that their knowledge and capacity has been passed on to the older members of the children in the community so that they can carry on the work. With regard to these individuals and their families they need to be engaged with and supported, trained, counselled and resourced so that they can collaborate in educating their extended community to the value of play for children in such situations.

In our group we addressed the question, “Can we create a refugee camp that is truly child-friendly?” Refugee camps are certainly not where anyone would choose to live. Given that they are a ‘necessary evil’ in our world we explored the idea of how these spaces might help a child thrive both now and in later life. Humanitarian camps are unique spaces that contain many obvious and unseen challenges. We were inspired by the thought that in any special situation there are opportunities that may be exploited to the great benefit of children. An exciting thought.

At a practical level on-the-ground social areas need to be made a priority in temporary accommodation facilities so that fear does not become entrenched. Displaced communities need materials, education and the right to play. Playworker intervention can bring profound change by showing communities the benefits to children of playing. It is not about facilities as much as it is about space and the allowance to play.

1. These camps have little or no traffic, so the usual risks to children and fear of parents around roads are non-existent. It also means that the paths that do exist can be safely used.

GROUP #2

3. Camps are diverse places with people and resources coming from across the globe offering many unheard of opportunities for learning.

• • • •

The members of this group were: Mehmet Adiyaman, Turkish Red Crescent Kathy Wong, Playright Hong Kong, IPA Executive Board Marcus Veerman, Playground Ideas

P L A Y R I G H T S • I P A W O R L D . O R G

Photo appears courtesy of Little Ripples School, Chad.

Opportunities Because humanitarian camps are unlike “normal cities” we identified some distinct differences in their structure that offered niches to exploit in children’s favour:

2. Being temporary and relocatable in nature, camps offer an incredible opportunity to redesign spaces and entire “suburbs” by literally picking up the tents or shipping containers and re-arranging them.

After exploring these opportunities we looked at how to apply them to the most common challenges that keep children in camps around the world from thriving.

Challenges

Possible Solutions

Location Play space is often poorly located or non- existent making it difficult for parents to get the children there and to supervise them once they do. Locations need to be open and considered safe by parents so they feel safe leaving their children. Poor location can cause issues with people upset by the noise of playing children or flying balls etc.

Portable play spaces e.g., play bus/play boxes in strategic locations. A key revelation and huge opportunity is the ability to move or create camp plans ‘from scratch’ that include spaces for children. With smart planning this can be done without compromising on space for pathways and other amenities, but it does need community consulting and clear and careful planning to make sure it meets the needs of parents and the community.

Supervising parents need a space that caters to their needs.

Supervising parents need: shade, privacy for breastfeeding (from men), social activities, etc.

Camps rarely have spaces for adults to work, do crafts, and be creative.

Sheds and spaces for adults to be creative and for children to be mentored in an informal setting. Cultural and religious needs must be considered for the site to be successful.

Time Constraints Parents can often be busy dealing with other issues and if play is dependent on their supervision it can stop play altogether.

Creating safe supervised spaces where parents can leave their children.

Parents with negative associations or attitudes to play e.g. “It’s just lazing around when they should be studying or doing chores.”

Parental education programs that highlight the importance of play to curb parental fears and prejudices about play. Playworkers regularly go out and meet parents to build trust and get to know the community.

Freedom of expression No place for children to express their full range of emotions: initially, children who experience traumatic and confusing situations can play in ways that can be confronting, cause anxiety, and be offensive to the community, ie playing ‘war’ or ‘earthquake’.

Children need a place separate from the high density of camp central to be able to fully express their feelings, thoughts and actions. Children may need observation and intervention and sensitive adults to support, understand and provide context. In time, children need creative and attractive alternative play options that can be nurtured by playworkers. Facilitated play can encourage expression through music, painting, etc.

Monotony Camp life is often monotonous, repetitious and unstimulating.

Children need time and space to play in nature, eg water, grass, trees. Children need a diverse range of loose parts and resources and a space to use them year round, e.g. a site that is protected from extreme weather with a storage room full of diverse resources to create ‘rich’ play experience. Children need to regularly leave the camps and experience ‘normal’ daily life and the senses, sounds and immersive experience that it holds.

Cultural sensitivity Play opportunities may be inappropriate for religious or gender reasons.

Community consultations must be carried out to understand and address the problematic situations such as boys and girls playing together, girls playing publicly, proximity to men’s toilets, proximity to dark or closed-in quiet places.

Hygiene Camps are often unhygienic and untidy places with many physical hazards like broken glass, rotting rubbish, diseased dogs and other animals.

Play spaces and general camp areas need to be regularly cleaned to create a sense of safety and freedom for both parents to allow children to play and so children will not be injured.

For reports from Group #3 and Group #4, visit our website at ipaworld.org/access-to-play-in-crisis/

J U LY 2 0 1 5

wales

Homs, Syria Children Playing in the Midst of War

P L A Y R I G H T S • I P A W O R L D . O R G

What is it like for the children left behind in war zones – for those who don’t make it to the relative safety of the refugee camps? These powerful pictures come from photographers in Homs, Syria. The city has been under siege for years. Women and children often survive by living in basements of bombed out buildings. In the midst of the destruction the children in Homs still play. These photographs were graciously donated by Thaer Khalidiya and Yazan Homsy. The photographs from BasmaSyria are used without permission, as no one has been able to locate the brave BasmaSyria Media members who worked tirelessly to get the images of their home out to the world. Those who knew them have encouraged us to use them in honor – and perhaps in memory – of their mission.

J U LY 2 0 1 5

Syri 28

P L A Y R I G H T S • I P A W O R L D . O R G

J U LY 2 0 1 5

Art and Child’s Play Serious Tools for Healing Susan Anderson, Founder, The ArtReach Foundation artreachfoundation.org

P L A Y R I G H T S • I P A W O R L D . O R G

All too often children’s spontaneous play and art making do not get the full respect they should receive. This is true in developed and un-developed countries alike. So, it is commendable that article 31 was included in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and that it highlights both art and play. Article 31 states, “That every child has the right to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities appropriate to the age of the child and to participate freely in cultural life and the arts”. But, few really understand why this right is so important to the physical, and mental health and wellness of the child. And, few understand how powerful the use of the arts and play are in the healing process. I am the Founder of The ArtReach Foundation® (ArtReach), whose mission is to use expressive and creative arts therapies to influence and assist the growth and development of children who have experienced the traumatic effects of war, violence and/or natural disaster. In 1999, not long after the end of the Bosnian war, we launched the ArtReach pilot program in Sarajevo. Our first five years were spent in Bosnia and Herzegovina where we conducted training programs for over 500 professionals from the fields of education, social work, and counseling, all of who worked with children. Since that time, we have taken this culturally adaptable program that uses creative and expressive arts activities to train several thousand more professionals in countries such as Jordan, Lebanon, the U.S., and now Haiti. The work of ArtReach is based on the assumption that creative, artistic, imaginative, and self-expressive activities are emotionally healing and promote positive growth and development in children. This assumption is grounded in concepts and observations of psychologists, educators, and specialists in human development. Creative and healing imagery has been incorporated to treat eating disorders, trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder for years (Sheikh, 2003), and, much has been written about the psychological impact of natural and human-caused disasters. Creative art (art, drama, music) therapies and group therapies have been used to treat psychological trauma for decades ( Johnson, 1987). All of this led to the development of our program. Art making is natural to all people and exists across all cultures and languages. It is an effective vehicle by which children express themselves. It is also a safe way for people who have experienced the unspeakable to be able to come to terms with their suffering, as well as a pleasurable way to experience the process of self-exploration. (Kramer, 1993) The expressions of the imagination are elements interwoven within all ArtReach training programs. Our creative, arts-integrated approach is called the ArtReach Model®. It encourages and supports resilience, creativity and community support for

children, whether traumatically affected or not. This Model, formulated by Bernhard Kempler, Ph.D., ABPP (2003), and ArtReach’s expressive arts therapists, tailors the training to match the culture, conditions, level of education, and resources available to participants in their environment. ArtReach programs combine visual art, music, drama, meditation, creative writing and movement activities into an experiential workshop format for 15-20 participants. The training period is two weeks. During the first week, the adults are immersed in the ArtReach experience, and then in the second week these participants try out their new tools with children under the watchful guidance and supervision of the ArtReach professionals. To the surprise of first-time participants, an ArtReach workshop can seem quite simple at first. However, very quickly the participants begin to realize that this workshop will be different from any other they have previously had in their training background. At the beginning of the first day of the program the workshop facilitator initiates a dynamic group process with a carefully orchestrated series of introductory exercises that include movement and music. A guided meditation may be the next activity to follow, promoting relaxation and the opportunity for mental images to come into focus, and begin to inspire an artwork, a dance, a posture called a “sculpt,” a song, or a poem to be developed during the ensuing workshop days. This organic environment, created by continually changing and blending one metaphorical activity into another seamlessly, continues to build group engagement and active imaginations. This method of immersion allows each participant to connect to their creative self, one filled with expressive potential and a sense of hope. After the training, and under ArtReach supervision, the participants return to their work settings with children, communities and families, and apply what they have learned through the process. In our follow-up interviews, participants report how they feel more confident about introducing art activities into their settings. They also often begin to create arts-related activities

J U LY 2 0 1 5

within their own curriculums that touch directly upon community issues that plague the children with whom they work. Additionally, consistent feedback has shown us that, if the participants themselves had also been affected by trauma, the ArtReach training helped them personally in the same ways as the children and families that they serve. After a recent two-week training program for forty educators, healthcare and social workers in the community of Merger, Croix des Bouquets, Haiti, a participant was so inspired by his ArtReach experience that he spent post-workshop evening hours creating an artwork from crude local materials. This young man did not believe himself to be an artist, nor had he ever considered doing anything quite like this to express his feelings. He told us that, from his workshop experience, he imagined that “if there was an ArtReach Center here… it would help many people who are hurting in their spirits or people who have lost their way.”

“if there was an ArtReach Center here… it would help many people who are hurting in their spirits or people who have lost their way.” Today, health and wellness centers, clinics and hospitals around the world are incorporating the expressive arts into a child’s (and adult’s) recovery from injury and illness of all sorts. I am sure small miracles are seen regularly by the professionals who work with these children. During our five years of programs in Bosnia, I was moved to tears as I witnessed a 9-year-old girl begin to speak for the first time as she slowly entered into an art activity with other children. A family member told her teachers that she had experienced a horrific incident during the war, and had not spoken since. For five years she remained silent, becoming known as a selective mute. Selective mutism, known to be an anxiety disorder, can render some children silent even when their silence causes them shame, social ostracism or brings on punishment. In an ArtReach workshop this young girl found her voice again. One of the important components of ArtReach training is in teaching how to create a “Safe Space” - an environment where children can feel secure and open to expressing themselves in free play. By using the arts to give form to feelings, free play of

P L A Y R I G H T S • I P A W O R L D . O R G

children’s imagination can make meaning of the world around them. Children can be drawn into a rich internal world just by being given a tablet of paper and crayons. That world is enhanced through encouragement to explore feelings that can promote positive development, as well as a positive self-esteem. ArtReach programs stress the importance of creating this kind of supportive and sensitive surrounding. The use of metaphorical activities within this safe space can promote a gentle release of feelings that may be acknowledged and reflected within free play patterns. Children’s “like me” identification with others begins to help them build an empathetic connection that ultimately plays a vital role in a foundation for their recovery. It is well-accepted that, with proper treatment, the human body can heal itself from many physical wounds. Might it not also be possible that proper support and encouragement could awaken an innate capacity to heal from psychological trauma as well? Anecdotal evidence from ArtReach programs in multiple cultures over the last fifteen years strongly support an answer in the affirmative. Consequently, ArtReach has endeavored to find ways to expand the impact of its programs to the larger community beyond those who participate directly in them by incorporating a Train-the-Trainer model to develop indigenous ArtReach trainers. ArtReach activities can be an addition to the standard educational curriculum, and can also be integrated into specific subject matter in that curriculum. During our workshops, I have personally witnessed how the program generates an excitement and growing awareness in how to use the arts as tools to help cope with, and often mitigate, the effects of trauma in children with whom the participants work. For example, I observed two ArtReach-trained fifth grade teachers in Bosnia successfully enrich their presentation of such subjects as social studies and conflict resolution through the experiential use of art and drma. This class had several children displaced within their own

“I have personally witnessed how the program generates an excitement and growing awareness in how to use the arts as tools to help cope with, and often mitigate, the effects of trauma in children…”

country and often scapegoated by their classmates and thought of as outsiders. By using the ArtReach approach in teaching the subject matter, the teachers were able to build empathy among the students and transform the classroom environment Though there is little literature that exists on the curative powers of the imagination, there is evidence that allowing refugees and displaced persons to talk about the future, rather than continually focus on healing the past, decreases depressive symptoms (Beiser & Hyman, 1997). It is a small step to take in connecting the idea of thinking of the future to imagining and creating hope. For those who doubt that which cannot be proven in a scientific laboratory, I would offer some of our observations and anecdotes that show how programs like ArtReach can benefit children, adults and communities whether they have suffered trauma or not. It is wonderful when there are compassionate adults to encourage and allow for children’s dreams to be accessed through art experiences. One of ArtReach’s Middle East trainers told me about her experiences as a young girl who came to Jordan as a refugee. She still carries the pain of displacement and loss though it happened many years ago. Now, as a social worker, she leads programs at a UNRWA (UN Relief and Works Agency) community center that serves women and children in Zarqa. When we met one year after her training, she was very animated and quite eager to report how she was using what she had learned from our workshops, both in her work and also with her family. She said ArtReach made her feel free and helped her to dream again - something she had not done for a very long time. The metaphor she used to describe herself was one of a butterfly that had finally emerged from its dark cocoon, spread its wings and could suddenly fly. On her desk sits a little butterfly figurine that she uses everyday to remind her of who she has become, and the new role she plays with the refugee children who come to the center. She says she now knows how to help them feel free and become beautiful butterflies themselves. l References: Beiser, M., & Human, I. (1997) Refugee’s time perspective and mental health. American Journal of Psychiatry, 154, 996-1002. Johnson, D.R. (1987). The role of the creative arts therapies in the diagnosis and treatment of psychological trauma. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 14, 7-13. Kempler, B. (2007). Unpublished ArtReach document. Kramer, E. (1993). Art as therapy with children. (2nd Ed.) Sheikh, A. A. (2003), Healing Images: The role of imagination in health.

July 2015

IPA GOES TO LEBANON The Access to Play in Crisis project moves forward In the summer of 2014, IPA President Theresa Casey and IPA Vice President Robyn Monro-Miller traveled to Lebanon at the invitation of the Beyond Association. The intention was to do some on-theground research for IPA’s Access to Play in Crisis project and further the understanding developed during the IPA Triennial Conference in Itanbul. This is a post from Theresa and Robyn, written while in Beirut, following a short visit to Zahle Province, Lebanon. We have spent three wonderful days with our friends in the Beyond Association, at the invitation of Maria Assi, CEO. IPA has built a relationship with Maria and Beyond over the last four years. They were integral to the UN General Comment process right from the beginning when they ran a consultation in Beirut for our Global Consultation Project. Beyond Association is a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) that is responding directly and very innovatively to the Syrian refugee crisis. They have established schools in the ‘informal tented settlements’ (ITS) where many of the Syrian refugees have been forced to set up home in Lebanon. These are often on the edge of agricultural land where they find work in the fields. We have been greeted with exceptional openness, warmth and hospitality in what are very, very difficult circumstances. We focused mainly on visiting the schools and communities and had opportunities to witness the teachers working with the children with very engaging methods – very participatory and full of love. We’ve also been very impressed by an emphasis on a rich curriculum including music, art and storytel-ling. We’ve been told that many of the children need to be able to express themselves creatively and to tell their stories through drawing as they will not talk about the experiences they have been through.

Beyond identifies teachers from within the Syrian refugee communities and also Lebanese teachers, who all work together as a team. Beyond gives ongoing training and coaching and promotes values of tolerance and respect in everything they do. Our purpose in making this visit was to see first-hand the situation of Syrian children and to understand better responses to their situation. Second, we hope that we can find ways to support Beyond and other NGOs and government bodies in their desire to highlight and implement children’s article 31 rights in situations of crisis. During our visit we had meetings organised by Beyond with the Director General of the Ministry of Youth and Sport and UNICEF Lebanon programme. We will continue to follow up on ideas and possible action that developed in the course of the visit. Some are very concrete such as the commitment of the the Director General to make a translation of the UN GC on article 31, others need further development. We feel this visit has been an important opportunity to follow up on both the resolutions from the Istanbul conference. On a personal level it has been deeply moving and inspiring. – Theresa and Robyn

J U LY 2 0 1 5

IN MEMORIUM

Selim Iltus

Selim Iltus Iltus became a great friend to the International Play Association (IPA) in the years in which we focussed our efforts to bring about a UN General Comment on article 31. Quietly and behind-the-scenes Selim Iltus was one of the most important people in making it happen. Fittingly, IPA and Selim first came together in a wonderful urban nature playground in Rotterdam. A long-time colleague of Roger Hart at the City University New York, Selim had been roped in by Roger to assist us with a small workshop to figure out how on earth we should go about gathering evidence to persuade the UN about barriers to children’s play. Soon, we became familiar with Selim’s habit of quietly coming back to us after reflection to say, “I think I can help.” By now Research and Evaluation Officer with the Bernard van Leer Foundation, Selim’s help took us through commissioning (1955 – 2015) research, designing and running the Global Consultation Project on Children’s Right to Play (“sounds rather grand, doesn’t it?” as Valerie our co-conspirator would say with satisfaction) and, when the time came, managing the drafting of the UN General Comment on behalf of the UN Committee. Selim supported IPA’s launch of the General Comment in Geneva in 2013 along with guests from around the world, including the whole of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and the then director of the BvLF, Lisa Jordan. Through all of this Selim was a fellow traveller. Despite periods of ill health he chose to be there with IPA and to continue to listen and to help and to always bring his warmth, wisdom and wit. We were honoured that Selim joined IPA in our World Conferences in Wales in 2011 and Turkey in 2013, where we remember him, pen and notepad always in hand. His commitment to children’s right to play made some very special things happen, that simply wouldn’t have happened without him. Selim died 12 July 2015. We will miss him enormously and on behalf of all IPA members we send our sincere condolences to his family.

Brian Sutton-Smith Remberances from a New Zealand Childhood Beverley Morris

(1924-2014) 36

P L A Y R I G H T S • I P A W O R L D . O R G

Professor Brian Sutton-Smith who died recently aged 90 in USA, was a New Zealand academic who was an energetic advocate for the value of play. He had a good start in his own play in the hills of Island Bay in Wellington. In the early 1920s my mother and Brian’s mother Nita Smith, both pushing their prams, met up at the Island Bay tram terminus in the playground not far from the fore-shore. While the four-yearold Vaughan tried the slide, Brian and I were strapped into the (continued on page 38)

Febrik, Play and the Urban Context (continued from page 19) The children go on to rearrange and combine their separate ingredients to invent new collective games. These are then tested in different sites or through participatory workshops with the community, leading to a design proposal for specific sites. In this way, the hidden topography of play is formalised through introducing architectural elements into different parts of the public realm. The ‘playground’ is fragmented into camouflaged play pockets, to be discovered through the daily journeys of walking around the camp. This new urban topography offers the ‘potential of a playground as the locus of a truly public, neighbourhood generating place’. 3

Three projects ‘Play Space’ (2005) came as a consequence of Dream Project (2003 and 2004), two projects which were carried out through workshops in Burj el Barajne. Working with the children in Dream Project made us aware of the physical and spatial conditions of the camp, as well as the children’s perceptions of them and interactions within them. Play Space looked at the way the children transform the limited camp spaces with their patterns of play; but equally the way in which this specific environment prompts the invention of new games and play spaces. ‘Play Pockets’ (2008) was developed along with the reconstruction plans of Nahr el Bared, a camp north of Lebanon partially wiped out in 2007. This tabula rasa resulted in an unusual situation in which a refugee camp could be formally redesigned. The camps were temporary spaces that became permanent through a series of political indecisions. There is an inherent contradiction:

how to redesign when there was no design in the first place? Does one start anew or examine the possibilities existing in the informal, undesigned structure? Basing our work on findings from Burj el Barajne in Play Space, as well as on community input through Nahr el Bared Reconstruction Committee (NBRC), Febrik developed prototypes of architectural details intended to combine children and adults’ practices within the same public area. ‘Edge of Play’ (2009) worked with children to reveal their play habits, and their creative means of responding to the absence of play spaces in Talbiyeh. We began with a training workshop (using Play Space activity manuals) for adults inthe community, using creative tools such as photography and drawing to discover the children’s invented games. The adults became facilitators who then worked with a group of childrento find out their patterns and practices of play, producing a series of photographs, narratives and drawings. Taking these games on board, a design workshop with the children developed initial inventions through a series of collages and models. These were then developed in the design studio and in collaboration with the UNRWA team. We hope for these be tested and implemented with the community in a new part of the project.

Public spaces transform from extensions of private interiors to conversation arenas, to celebration spaces, to play pockets.

Regeneration The complex institutional system within the refugee camps is made up of: the host government; intergovernmental international organisations (UN, UNRWA); civil society (NGOs, independent, donor driven, politically motivated); the community (cultural practices and beliefs); as well the collective mindset. Key ingredients of any genuine partnership are the exchange of information, the building of knowledge and communication tools. This is especially true in this context, as regeneration here aims at the community-initiated development of existing (often basic) resources as opposed to a large scale ‘makeover’ of an area. The spatial solutions we propose – architectural furniture and planning in the public realm – thus aim to create dynamic multi-functional structures with an emphasis on play, that declare different groups’ right to the space, particularly under-represented groups such as children and young people. The structures suggest democratic sharing of the space, by marking more clearly how the different ‘owners’ will coexist. Febrik aims to continue developing its research towards claiming public space and in turn initiating social change, seeking spatial solutions to social concerns. We will also continue to test the potential of play as a communitygenerating tool both as an educational methodology and as programmatic intervention in the new fragmented play pockets and topographies. (continued on page 38)

J U LY 2 0 1 5

Febrik, Play and the Urban Context (continued from page 37) Through its latest project in Talbiyeh camp, Febrik is exploring issues that have arisen from the formalizing of informal practices. We are looking at the complexities of appropriating public spaces that previously had certain gender and age hierarchies. We are also looking at the physical limitations, at what is sustainable structurally and socially in the camps, taking into account the value of materials and the perception of what is public property. Vandalism and the partial breaking and dismantling of structures for re-use in home reinforcement, are a persistent challenge to any design proposal. With our ‘implementation workshops’ we hope to generate a sense of collective ownership of public structures and spaces, and we are exploring ways of strengthening the ‘social play space’ as a space for democracy and community integration. l 1

if-untitled.com

Refugee camps were supposed to provide short-term shelter pending the refugees’ right of return to their homes. This right has been enshrined in UN resolutions. See http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF and http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8427987.stm 3

Liane Lefaivre and Döll, (eds). 2007, Ground-Up City: Play as a Design Tool, Hall, George (trans.) Rotterdam, Netherlands: 010 Publishers. This article originally appeared in Engage 25 Journal. It is used with permission.

Brian Sutton Smith (continued from page 36) toddlers’ swings and baby Bill slept in his pram. Passing on to the beach, the mothers produced buckets and spades for us to dig holes and play in the sand. As a ‘Second Year’ at Teachers’ Training College, I heard about the minor rebellious activities of Brian, then a ‘First Year’, but agreed with him that playtime was important. He insisted that play is not a sideshow – it is critical to children’s development. Brian chose to do his probationary year in a small country school in the Wairarapa area where he had time to further his observations on children’s play in natural surroundings. He eventually achieved the first doctorate in Education in the University of New Zealand (as it was then called). His doctoral thesis was entitled “The History of Play in New Zealand.” While teaching in primary schools in Wellington Brian wrote some stories for the NZ School Journal, drawing on his play in the Island Bay gorse-clad hills – Our Street, Smitty Does a Bunk, and The Cobbers. As the themes were about boys’ rough and tumble play, the children adored them but the parents and teachers hated them for their generous use of slang and vivid descriptions of street life. Brian left New Zealand in 1954 on

a Fulbright scholarship and became a world authority on Play. As Professor at Bowling Green University (Iowa) he began to publish theoretical books and articles about the human condition from studying play’s cultural wellsprings – most notably The Ambiguity of Play. He further studied children’s psychological development, and pursued the myriad variations of play in folk lore, toys, board games, organised sports, computer gaming and even daydreaming. With the experience of raising five children, Brian and his New Zealand wife Shirley wrote a book for parents, How to Play with your Children and When Not To. The “when not to” reverberated with me because too often I see parents breaking up a child’s play by unwanted intervening. Brian followed an academic career in universities in USA and was a consultant to TV programmes such as Captain Kangaroo. I met with Brian on some of his trips back to NZ, but more often at the Triennial Conferences of the International Association for the Child’s Right to Play (as IPA used to be known). He believed that play was a universal human phenomenon, involving adults as well as children, and his writings were characterised by interdisciplinary flair. He wrote many books and over 300 papers for academic journals, which are now lodged at The Strong at Rochester, New York. l Editor’s note: Ms. Morris, 91, is a long-time member and friend of IPA and still an advocate for the child’s right to play. Links to more traditional obituaries for Professor Sutton-Smith are found on ipaworld.org. He passed away on March 7, 2015.

The IPA and Beyond Association teams in Lebanon

P L A Y R I G H T S • I P A W O R L D . O R G

Four Days in May (continued from page 21) This conference resolves to promote a richer understanding of article 31 across the world and to encourage and work with governments to fulfill their obli-gations as signatories to the URCRC.

In summing up our experience in Istanbul, Theresa said, “My memories of Istanbul 2014 will be of solidarity, friendship, hard work and amazing examples of initiatives to ensure all children can exercise their right to play.” l

At the end of the conference it was announced that the 20th IPA Triennial World Conference would be held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in September 2017.

IPA ORGANIZATIONAL NEWS IPA XXI Triennial World Conference, 2020

Members of IPA who have been excited by attending previous world conferences in Istanbul, Cardiff or Hong Kong often ask, usually in the afterglow of a fascinating week, how they bring this wonderful event to their country. Planning is now underway to find IPA members or branches, who are interested in working collaboratively with the Board to explore the possibility of bringing the 21st Triennial World Conference in 2020 to their city. If you have dreamed of it, it can happen. It is a big commitment, but the benefits are powerful and lasting.

IPA Executive Board (2017-2020) Here in July 2015 the election of the 2017- 2020 Executive Board seems a long way away, however this is just the time to start planning for the future! In 2017-2020 a number of the current Board members will be stepping down. We are keen to hear from IPA members with an interest in learning more about how the Board works before considering standing for election in 2017. An IPA Board member is typically someone who is active with their IPA Branch or with IPA internationally, and also has experience of the issues common to the management of large organizations or national charities, or project management/delivery. They must have the time to commit to the work of the Board, which is done on a voluntary basis, and of course be committed to children’s play rights.

• President • Vice President • Secretary • Treasurer

The majority of the day-to-day business of IPA is carried out by email, Groupsite (a virtual ‘office’) and by Skype. IPA holds a full Board meeting annually, but Board members also take the chance to meet each other for face-to-face discussion when opportunities arise, e.g. when attending an international conference for their own organization, or during an IPA project. Annual meetings take place at the IPA World conference and in that city the year before the conference, but can also be held anywhere else in the world, depending on the most economical option, or at the most appropriate event. Role and responsibility descriptions for Executive Board Officers, and any further information required are all available on request from the IPA Secretary at Secretary@ipaworld.org. The Council of Representatives will oversee the nomination and election process.

Executive Board Officers

• Communications Officer • Membership Officer • Development Officer

J U LY 2 0 1 5

P L A Y R I G H T S • I P A W O R L D . O R G

PlayRights Magazine- Access to Play in Crisis, July 2015

Articles inside

IPA

IN MEMORIUM

IPA GOES TO LEBANON THE ACCESS TO PLAY

HALABJA COMMUNITY PLAY PROJECT

FEBRIK: PLAY AND THE URBAN CONTEXT

FOUR DAYS IN MAY IPA’S 19TH WORLD CONFERENCE IN

ACCESS TO PLAY IN CRISIS: THE ISTANBUL

TORN FROM HOME

HOMS, SYRIA CHILDREN PLAYING

ART AND CHILD’S PLAY SERIOUS TOOLS FOR HEALING

MY CHILDHOOD IN A REFUGEE CAMP