Blog Archives

Reflections from Liberia

6/28/2015

Alexis shares her experience traveling back to Liberia- the place where the Playing To Live! program was born...

It’s been 24 hours since I have arrived back to South Africa and as I recover from jet lag and 6 days of non stop work, I feel as if the reality of Playing to Live! is hitting me in strong waves. While I was working and traveling in Liberia, my mind and heart was focused on getting as much work done in the little time I had. I visited three sites, met with our core staff, met with our program associates, met with the amazing UNICEF representative who believes in us so much, amongst many others.

When I visited the children, it was only for a few minutes. My role is to be in the background so that the children see our Liberian staff as the representatives of our program, but even still the children greeted me with a sign that says “I love you.” I immediately locked eyes with this young boy, and he quietly said “I love you.” I knelt in front of him and through small tears, I told him I loved him as well. I felt an urgency to make him know how much my heart has been with him since we started the program and how much my heart is with him after I leave. How much work people around the world are doing to support a smile on his face and a healing in his heart. The urgency that I felt was relieved when I reminded myself that he will be reminded of how special he is through every play activity and every moment that our staff has with him. He will be reminded through the lasting effects that teaching healing arts can have.

As long as we work to support this work, the Playing to Live! children will continually be reminded of how special they are.

#playingtolive #Ebola #Ebolasurvivors #UNICEFgrant #RESH # Liberia # SouthAfrica #creativesuperheros #creativearttherapies #playtherapy #arttherapy #yogatherapy

A Special Thank You From the PTL! Kids

6/25/2015

5 days in ‪#‎Liberia‬ has been a whirlwind and one thing we can say is that our ‪#‎UNICEF‬ grant in partnership with ‪#‎RESH‬ is in full swing and greater than anyone could have ever imagined.

Yesterday Alexis visited more sites and was greeted by a handmade poster by a child at the #Ebola orphanage who has loved participating in the Playing To Live! program. It was an emotional moment for everyone, but especially Alexis who is seeing the smiles of these children we have all been working to help for the very first time.
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Here are a few more pictures from Alexis's trip. The Liberia team, pictured below, has been working so hard to make Playing To Live! Liberia a success and we are so proud of them! Thank you!

#‎arttherapy‬ ‪#‎playingtolive‬ ‪#‎creativesuperhero‬ ‪#‎playtherapy‬

The Journey Back To Where It All Began...

6/23/2015

This past week Alexis has been in Liberia meeting the team that worked to build the Playing To Live! program since October. These special people took an idea, Alexis's dream, and made it into a reality. They believed in the absolute need for child centered support during the Ebola crisis, and they have worked incredibly hard to get to where we are today, a program that thanks to UNICEF will extend to 800 Ebola affected children and hire 40 female Ebola survivors. Thank you to our hires Prisie and Jessica, Jessi, and RESH.

This program would also not be possible without the incredible support from all the donors who put their trust and money into our mission. Thank you for your support.

Since October Alexis has dreamed about seeing this project that has affected her life and the lives of so many others. As she made her way to Liberia she couldn't even comprehend the excitement and anticipation of being there!

We look forward to bringing you along on this journey...

Please continue to support our mission by donating to our fundraising campaign at
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/support-south-african-children-playing-to-live#/story

Empowering our Local Volunteers

6/21/2015

I am constantly amazed by the enthusiasm we at Playing to Live! receive from our partners here and in Liberia. In my studies in Public Health, we receive warnings that communities may be resistant to what we are bringing. There is a fear that the programming and training is only geared towards western ideals.

Before we start any training, we sit down with our cultural liaisons and ask them to work with us to adapt our programming and training to match it with the ideals and language of the community.

Even then we ended up having a discussion today about how our training will need to once again be adapted when we move it from urban Pretoria to rural South Africa. One of our participants spoke about how certain words and explanations would not translate well in a rural setting. This type of critique is very exciting because it shows us that we are building an empowering space for the communities we work with to take ownership over our work! We have invited her and others to meet with us after the 3 week holiday program to address how to adapt and build.

Help us continue our training program by donating to our South Africa fundraising campaign! Time is running out so donate now!

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/support-south-african-children-playing-to-live#/story

We Are On A Roll- Second Training Begins!

6/19/2015

Today at TLF we started our second Playing to Live! training. This time for coordinators of the different programs within the organization, including half way houses for families and homeless outreach. Around half of the coordinators are certified social workers while the others are well experienced due to their daily work.

Something beautiful that continually struck me was how much the individuals were getting excited about our training.

They were sharing examples of how they have used the techniques we are teaching them, but they didn’t know it. Our expressive arts therapy training acted as an affirmation for the incredible work they are already doing, but it also is teaching them techniques to build on.

Time is running out to support this important programming in South Africa! Donate Today! https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/support-south-african-children-playing-to-live#/story

The PTL! Training Continues in Liberia!

6/15/2015

Our caregivers continue to train hard this week- learning the creative art therapy techniques they will need to provide Liberian children with opportunities for expression, healing and growth.

We are so grateful for their dedication, the generous grant from UNICEF and our partners at RESH. Thank you all for believing in the Playing To Live! mission and making this program possible!

First Round of UNICEF- Funded Orientation Trainings Begin This Month!

6/13/2015

Playing To Live! and RESH are pleased to announce its first round of Orientation Trainings for program funded by UNICEF, Recreation for Resilience for Children Affected by EVD (Orphans and Survivors and those and Members of Heavily EVD Affected Communities). Check it out!!

The program will target:

800 children affected by EVD (child survivors and children who have lost one or both parents/caregivers) and those living in heavily EVD affected households and communities participate in recreation for resilience, and strengthening coping mechanism activities focused on: art, play and expression

150 parents/guardians (many of them kinship care placements) of children participating in the recreation for resilience activities will receive a package of PSS support based on their need (to include any of the following- supportive talks with trained project social workers; training and ongoing mentoring in: child caregiving skills, child rights, and resiliency and coping mechanisms) & 70 percent of parent and guardian reached demonstrate improved knowledge in child caregiving, child rights, resiliency and coping mechanisms at the end of the six months

40 female adults who are EVD survivors will be supported with non-formal employment over a three-six month time frame as facilitators of this project, as well as receive: capacity building mentoring/training to prepare them for entry into the workforce or income generating skills, and empowerment for the future at the end of the six months; ongoing frequent assessment of psychosocial needs, supportive talks supporting strengthening coping mechanism;

40 Project Social Workers receive training and mentoring in recreation for resilience, and strengthening coping mechanism activities focused on: art, play and expression for children

1st Orientation Training:
24 women who are Ebola survivors recommended by the Survivors' Network and 24 social workers/PSS workers whose names have been submitted to the MoGCSP are scheduled to attend.

This marks an incredible success for Playing To Live!, but we can't stop here!

Help us bring this effective training program to South Africa this summer by supporting our campaign: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/support-south-african-children-playing-to-live#/story

Our Training Continues in South Africa!

6/12/2015

The training program is off to an amazing start! Our volunteers are learning and growing each day and the PTL! team is so excited to share with you the work of these incredible individuals!

Dance and music is a huge part of our training and it helpings volunteers embrace their own "inner child" and learn to play!

Rock on PTL! South Africa!

Help support our training program at https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/support-south-african-children-playing-to-live#/story

Woah! What a Week Playing to Live! is Having!

6/11/2015

Alexis has begun her training in South Africa to 24 volunteers who will use our programming and training to not only work with the children during the holiday program, but also in their daily work with the children in the shelters.

This was the first time we have been able to implement our full training program, and we are blown away by the success. Alexis trained volunteers from 9-3:30, and the volunteers were engaged the WHOLE time. During breaks they told Alexis and Megan how much they loved the experiential learning that was involved with the training.

What are our volunteers working on right now?

Volunteers are asked to role play being a child and creates a drawing, while their partner acts as the implementer, and the other partner observes and comments on what they saw. Our volunteers loved this process and really came to appreciate what it is like to make art with someone to witness and respect their creations!

We know it was a success because by the end of the training, the volunteers were critiquing examples and exploring beyond the training.

UNICEF Helps Expand the Playing To Live! Program in Liberia

6/10/2015

It has been a journey since the days when Ebola was at its peak, and we worked on a small scale in quarantine centers to today with the UNICEF grant! In October 2014, a few volunteers supported launching Playing to Live activities in a quarantine center for children (called an Interim Care Center) with about thirty children who were to spend 21 days in isolation to wait out if they developed Ebola. Most of the children were highly traumatized by losing family to Ebola, and then being forced into the quarantine center with no familiar faces to turn to. Playing to Live activities was one of the only times in the day that they could just be 'children' care-free and express their feelings through drawing and dancing.

With Ebola cases dropping in Liberia, Playing to Live partnered with Renewed Energy Serving Humanity (RESH) to expand our programming to communities that were former hot zones, in households were many had sadly died of Ebola and the surviving family had to carry on. I often joined the team- Jessica (Project Supervisor), Prisie (Program Manager), and Smith (RESH Director), to visit one of our sites in Banjor, Montserrado, with a group of families with one living adult per ten children. Moreover, the adults were women who were market sellers, who said they had little income due to the stigma against families who had been affected by the virus. After Ebola hit a house, neighbors and community members often believe that the family with Ebola will spread it even after it is gone from the house, and that in fact, the family is 'cursed' and should be avoided. Less people bought from the women's market bins. The stress that these amazing women experienced was tragic. Playing to Live staff visited their homes twice a week to spend time with the female adults and with the children doing play and art therapy.

The quality of our work grew and soon I was hearing from different professionals that they had heard of our work and were interested to see it. This included representatives of the US Embassy, the United Nations, and UNICEF. UNICEF's representative was so glad with our work that she offered we apply for a grant to expand our program in partnership with the Ministry of Gender. While generous, this UNICEF grant only funds the program in Liberia- we still need donor support and funding to expand the program globally. To help us expand please donate now at:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/support-south-african-children-playing-to-live#/story

I spend weeks with my team developing our grant proposal. It was our first of this size. There were so many processes, or hoops to jump through. I spend most days staring at Excel sheets and drafting our indicators with our Program Manager and the RESH Director. We wanted to have a program we could be proud of. RESH stepped forward as our lead partner, sharing its already established administrative systems. After a week-long audit by UNICEF of RESH's systems and reporting, we were deemed a good implementer to partner with. Our grant was submitted and approved! We were ecstatic! We will have to make our little office in Congo Town in Monrovia larger to take on the new staff, including 40 Project Associates (all of whom are women who survived Ebola selected by the national Ebola Survivors' Network) and 40 Social Workers (through RESH). The ramp up to our orientation training this week feels like putting on the parachute as we approach the point of jumping out of a plane. It is nerve-racking, thrilling, emotional, and joyful all at the same time. I have to return to the United States after over 6 months in Liberia this trip to pursue a Ph.D. But to have the fortune to be here as our UNICEF Project beginnings is so humbling. Our national team in Liberia is incredible, with a leadership and passion that is unparalleled in many start-up organizations.

"Our grant was submitted and approved! We were ecstatic! We will have to make our little office in Congo Town in Monrovia larger to take on the new staff, including 40 Project Associates (all of whom are women who survived Ebola selected by the national Ebola Survivors' Network) and 40 Social Workers (through RESH)".

"The ramp up to our orientation training this week feels like putting on the parachute as we approach the point of jumping out of a plane".