What does HOPE look like to you?
For us at Playground Builders, Hope is a group of exuberant kids playing on a newly constructed playground. We are dedicated to building hope from the ground-up in war-torn areas such as Afghanistan, Iraq and the Palestinian Territories. Working with local businesses and non-profit organizations, we help create spaces where kids can be kids, communities can feel empowered and new possibilities can find a strong foundation.
The positive effects of our work are easy to see. Our philosophy is based on involving local people in the playground building process and minimizing overhead costs. We use local contractors to build and install the playgrounds and local people to help us choose locations that are safe and needed the most. Every dollar donated goes directly to building playgrounds – all travel and administrative costs are covered by directors and volunteers at their own expense.
The Playground Builders Foundation was incorporated under the BC Societies Act on June 21, 2007. Playground Builders is a registered Canadian Charity #852810019RR0001.
Our History
The need for happy children with safe places to play in conflict areas became evident to Keith Reynolds, the founder of Playground Builders, long before the Foundation came to be in 2007. For the last 20 years, Keith's extensive travels often took him to impoverished and war torn regions where he witnessed war's most innocent and ultimate victims: the children. Determined to help, in 2006 Keith and a number of like-minded individuals began facilitating the construction of safe playgrounds. They continue to work with help from recognized and experienced local NGOs, who ensure the playgrounds remain safe, supervised and maintained.
An innovative model for providing such playgrounds has been established. The model involves the use of a generic playground design and local construction, based on a competitive value bid system. This simplified process ensures many playgrounds throughout conflict areas can be built effectively and efficiently. These special places provide safe spaces for laughter, hope and interaction for war-entrapped children in unstable and poverty-stricken areas such as Iraq, Afghanistan and the Palestinian Territories. The photos on this website illustrate the hopes and smiles created by both the early work of the group and later by our official charitable organization, now known as the Olive Branch Playground Builders Foundation, or 'Playground Builders'.
With the great dedication of our volunteers and the work of our 'Helpers in Action', Playground Builders now has numerous projects completed or underway. Uniquely, all of our donations go toward building playgrounds. Our NGO partners in the local areas cover their own administrative fees. Our minimal operating expenses are covered by a private individual.
The benefits of the Playground Builders program are multi-fold and provide tangible, long term advantages for the children and their communities. Children have somewhere safe to play, laugh and simply be 'kids'. Parents witness the joy of their children simply being children. Our playgrounds are built, installed and maintained by local people. By providing much-needed jobs we help societies in crisis, injecting money into the local economy which helps to restore pride, ownership and enterprise capacity in these unstable communities.
Playgrounds in Afghanistan
After many positive recommendations, in December 2007 Playground Builders began working with an established Afghan NGO headquartered in Kabul. Established in 1994, this NGO receives funding from numerous countries and aid agencies including UNICEF, UNHCR and USAID. In addition to helping Playground Builders establish safe play areas, this NGO assists with healthcare, education and poverty-reduction throughout Afghanistan.
Playgrounds in the Palestinian Territories
Our playground program in the West Bank and Gaza created 19 playgrounds during 2006 to 2008. These playgrounds continue to provide fun, social interaction and respite for children in these oppressed regions.
Playgrounds in Iraq
Upon recommendation from our UN colleagues, Playground Builders Foundation began working with an Iraqi NGO in August 2007. This NGO is registered with the Planning Ministry and the Institution of Civil Society Ministry in Baghdad, and has received funding from and worked with Oxfam, ICS (Italy), UNICEF, UPP (Italy), and Save The Children’s Fund (UK).