Playground Phase 2: the fence

In order to keep small animals (pigs, sheep, goats and dogs) out of the playground we are building a fence. Yapatera's children are on summer vacation and there are many reports of them playing on the playground until 11 pm! Naro, one of the neighbors has taken initiative and has successfully obtained a donation of 20 trees from the local parish. Naro who heads the local religious brotherhood has assured us that the village patron saint Saint Sebastian will be making a special appearance at our playground inauguration on January 25th, he will be carried in a colorful procession to give his blessing to Yapatera Corazon and the playground.

Installation of playground begins!

With Cheri now in Peru installation of the playground in Yapatera has finally begun. Yesterday we mapped out what is quickly growing from a playground to a park or village square and the holes were dug for the placement of the equipment. Today most of the equipment was installed and within in minutes there were 30 children on the seesaws and 15 children on the slide. The equipment is being constructed by a local business in the next biggest town and is owned by 5 brothers. Neighbors in Yapatera are helping in the installation. One boy, about 10 years old asked us "When are you taking the playground away again?". We pointed to the cement with which the equipment was being put in place and said, "that's because it's going to stay". His face lit up. The women who had gathered in the crowd watching the installation were overheard saying, "Finally we have somewhere to take the little ones, something for them to do!"The building of a fence and benches and the planting of flowers and plants will follow soon..

Local micro-business hired to construct playground equipment

After reviewing the playground proposals submitted by a handful of Peruvian companies we are pleased to announce that the Heart of Yapatera committee has selected a small local company to construct the equipment for Yapatera's first playground. The decision to keep business local, source materials in the region and give jobs to people in the community to create the playground follows from our emphasis on empowering people to be pro-active in terms of their health. We are finalising the designs together with owner Ricardo and construction is scheduled to begin in December. As well as traditional playground equipment we will need a fence to keep out small animals such as goats and sheep and plants and trees to provide much needed shade in this very hot climate. If you have not yet donated but still wish to do so please make checks payable to Special Ties Foundation and post to Cheri Tatem, 16064 North St. Vrain Dr., Lyons, CO. 80540. Thanks for your continued support!

Playground design underway- we need your help now!

How did the idea to build a playground in Yapatera come about?

We organised a drawing competition for primary school students to come up with a logo for our neighborhood committee and project "Heart of Yapatera". Reviewing the 245 entries we noticed that a large number of children had drawn playgrounds- hardly unusual in many places in the world but there is no playground in Yapatera, the next town or the next city 2 hours away! We think a playground is crucial to the quality of life of children, families and the community and sets the foundations for an active, healthy life.

We need your help to make Yapatera's first playground a reality! We are now in the final stages of designing the playground and are ready to begin building soon, thanks to our many supporters. But we haven't yet reached our goal.

Please get in touch to find out how to contribute.

US embassy donates $4000 towards playground!

We are extremely pleased to announce that the US embassy in Lima has donated $4000 dollars to the Heart of Yapatera project! This money will go towards the construction of the playground and towards exercise games and activities with Yapatera's children and youth, bringing us a giant step closer to our goal.

The US embassy will be inaugurating the playground in Yapatera in celebration of Black History Month, February 2011.

We are still very much in need of donations to build, purchase and ship equipment, so please keep the donations rolling in and visit the Donor Honors Roll page to see who has already donated. Thank you!

A playground in the heart of Yapatera

With the playground site in our pockets and armed with support from the local authorities in the village we are now looking for support to commission a design construction proposal and draw up a budget.

Surveying the site

Mario, one of the village governors, gave us a tour of the future playground site. The area is near one of the primary schools which does not currently have a sports ground and it is also adjacent to the grounds where a new soccer field is being built. At the moment the land is uneven and full of shrubs. But Mario, who was a star player for the local soccer team in his youth, is excited “This will bring life to the village, especially to this neighborhood. The village is growing in this direction and in a year or two the playground will be right in the middle of it. Our children don’t have opportunities like this. I can’t wait to see it built!”.

News: Mayor donates land!

Alonso, the youngest mayor in the history of Yapatera, has commended the playground project for making a big difference to the wellbeing and future of Yapatera´s children and has kindly agreed to donate 12,900 square feet of land belonging to the community for our project. The path is clear for designing our playground...

A village without a playground?

Yapatera, population 5,000+, is considered the largest afro-descendent community in Peru; a large proportion of its inhabitants are schoolchildren many of them cared for by aunts and grandparents when their parents are forced to find work in Lima or Ecuador. Despite its size, the village does not have a playground for children to play and exercise on. Yapatera Corazon’s objective is to build a playground with equipment such as swings, a slide, a seesaw and more for children. Attached to the children’s playground we have plans for a mini-outdoor gym for adults and youth with basic equipment. The idea is to get children and adults to have fun with exercise.