IST students are building a playground at Gongo primary school

How do they plan to build the playground?

IST Student and Educator's goal is to build A playground that is developmentally appropriate for 5-6-year-olds. It will promote play-based learning and be a fixture in the community. They plan to use environmentally friendly materials which are also sustainable. In the initial stage of the planning phase, the IST  team presented their ideas to the SANA representatives for feedback.

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Our students and educators engaged the children with cardboard displays to see what the children would like to have on their playground

After gathering feedback from the children and SANA representatives, they worked on various playground ideas.

They will design the playground using computer-aided design software before moving on to the final stage of construction. Other students will help build the playground through Extended Studies Programme (ESP) trips to Gongo Village.

SANA organization.

SANA is a non-governmental organization registered in 2008 with a focus of promoting local communities’ participation in conservation. SANA works with communities living in ecological niche areas to develop sustainable solutions for biodiversity protection and recovery while improving livelihoods.

The Gongo Community.

Gongo village is located in the southwest part of Saadani National Park. The village was officially established in 2009 and has a population of around 2000 people (as of 2012), the majority of whom are Wadoetribe members. The majority of Gongo village's residents work in pineapple farming. Gongo village is surrounded by the magnificent Zaraninge Forest, a coastal monsoon forest surrounded by lowland wooded grassland. The village also harbors the Kikwati wildlife corridor which used to provide a pathway for animals migrating from Saadani National Park to Wamiriver in search of water catchment areas and pastures.