Burkina Faso
Safe playgrounds
Supporting children’s development through new playgrounds at nine Compassion centres in Burkina Faso
Education & Training
The Need
Regular play and physical activity are a critical part of healthy child development. But in Burkina Faso, many children are growing up without a safe place to run, play and simply be kids.
Nine of our church partners in Burkina Faso reached out for help. Eighty per cent of their beneficiaries—a total of 2,497 children—are between the ages of 4 and 10. This is a critical stage of children’s development in which play has a huge role. However, the churches lacked any type of play equipment at their buildings. At break time on centre days, children were limited to basic games like hopscotch or wrestling in the mud. The lack of activity left children bored and under-stimulated. Some were prone to breaking out in fights or engaging in rough play and getting hurt.
Play is key to children developing healthy brains, bodies and social bonds—all critical components of their holistic well-being. Research shows that play supports healthy social interactions, improves children’s abilities to plan and organize, boosts creativity and helps them learn how to cope with stress and regulate their emotions. This intervention aimed to support these important elements of children’s development by providing nine churches in Burkina Faso with proper playground equipment. By installing new playgrounds, our partners wanted to encourage children to become more physically active and give them a safe and fun place to spend time with their friends.
Our Response
Our church partners gratefully welcomed the news of your financial support, which has enabled them to install brand new playgrounds at their facilities.
A committee composed of church staff, local partnership facilitators and managers met to discuss the scope, schedule and budget of this intervention. A professional welder with proven expertise in playground design and creation was hired to design and create the equipment for the new playgrounds. The churches were provided with catalogues to review various items and designs and they consulted with the welder to select the equipment that would best suit their beneficiaries based on age.
The welder was responsible for purchasing the materials and for designing and creating the equipment, which included climbers, miniature planes, seesaws, swing sets and slides. Church staff visited the workshop regularly to observe the process and ensure that all items were being produced according to the prototypes they had selected. During this time, churches were responsible for clearing and preparing the area on their properties where the equipment would be installed. Once the playground equipment was complete, it was delivered directly to the church properties and installed according to the blueprint designs. Children were thrilled to arrive for centre day and have such a bright, welcoming and fun place to play!
Activities
Planning and preparing: Church committees worked with a professional welder to select age-appropriate playground equipment from a catalogue supplied by the contractor.
Play item installation and construction: The equipment was delivered to churches and installed according to the planned design. Play items included a seesaw, a swing set, metal climber, merry-go-round, balance beam and slides. The items were finished and painted on site.
New playgrounds: Children are happy to come to their Compassion centres to play on the new equipment with their friends!
Your Gift Provides...
Your support provided new playgrounds for nine frontline church partners in Burkina Faso, impacting 2,497 beneficiaries, including:
• Ground preparation
• Playground equipment:
○ 3-seater metal swing set (two per church)
○ Metal climber (one per church)
○ Merry-go-round (one per church)
○ Seesaw (one per church)
○ Balance beam (one per church)
○ Slides (one per church)
• Transportation
• Installation
• Sand (three loads per church)
• Cement (10 bags per church)
• Monitoring and follow-up
ReportA message from those your gift helped
My life was a bit bland before this intervention, since I didn’t have a variety of games I can play with my friends at the centre. Now, my life has completely changed. I am more fulfilled than before, and that makes me really happy. It is with a very happy heart that I go to the centre because I know that I will still find joy there by playing in the area that is specially reserved for us. I feel really important and considered in the eyes of the centre.
This has shown me how much play has a place in a child’s life, and it makes me prepare to pay for games in the future for my own children because my parents didn’t do it for me. But thanks to the centre I understand this, and I will try to apply it.
This intervention shows me that there is more happiness in giving than in receiving, because I know that by seeing our photos, donors will have greater joy. It also motivates me to donate in the future when I also have money, and it will bring me great joy to help others.
I can only say thank you to the donors. My prayer is that God gives you a hundredfold of their blessing and gives you joy as you also gave us joy. May you never lack for anything all your lives, in the name of Jesus.
ReportThank you for your generosity
Play is an important part of children’s socio-emotional, physical and cognitive development. Regular play supports children’s physical health, encourages creativity and imagination, enhances their problem-solving skills and helps them learn how to interact with their peers in a healthy way. With your generous support, nine of our church partners in Burkina Faso are now able to offer children a safe place to enjoy playtime with their peers so they can develop strong, healthy bodies and minds.
Many of the children we are serving in Burkina Faso are living in conditions of extreme poverty and do not have toys, books or other play items at home. The new playgrounds not only provide a fun place for children to enjoy at break time on centre days but have given them the chance to explore their capacity for creativity and imagination. What a priceless gift!
One pastor shares his gratitude: “The implementation of this intervention has had a great impact on the participants. The playground contributed to enhancing the image of the church in the community. Besides, it has brought joy on the faces of the participants and strengthened bonds among them. Finally, we noticed there have been fewer absences on centre days thanks to the play items, which are attractive to the participants. Even children from the community are attracted to the centre because of the playground, which was not the case in the past.”
Mahawa is one of the many children who is benefiting from your gift. She says, “Prior to the setting up of the playground, we would come to the centre to learn many great teachings, eat and get clothes, but we did not have much to play with because of the lack of play items. Now, thanks to this intervention, we have a variety of items we can use to play unceasingly! There even was a time I was bored at the centre, but now I am excited to be there and enjoy the seesaw!”
Thank you for generously investing in children like Mahawa—their lives will never be the same!
ReportA message from a centre director
The children are very happy with the newly installed playground. They rejoice that they now have a place entirely dedicated to their playing! This makes them feel important and considered at the centre. The playground also serves as a source of motivation that attracts participants to the centre. They even come on Sundays looking for an opportunity to play on the playground! This intervention has provided the church with adequate equipment and capacity for the children’s playtime.
Our prayer is that the God of heaven gives the donors continual success in whatever they undertake, that they never lack for anything and that they have the health to always accomplish their projects. Thank you again, and may God bless you beyond your expectations.