Book & Games & LEGO & Arts + Acrobatics & Maker Science + Phone Drives
These are super simple, popular, efficient quickstart activities. For a successful kick-off, you need
- a great STORY on urgent need and relevant IMPACT
- exciting RECIPIENTS and ripple EFFECTS
You have them.
PLUS you shall make sure toÂ
- VIVIDLY DOCUMENT every step that you and generous folks involved take on the way
- in photos, shirt films and texts
for publication on social media, in news media and YL Magazine
- reaching many
- making everybody happy and proud
- inspiring others with your people-powered example
and thereby > sparking diverse FOLLOW-UP EFFECTS
BOOK DRIVES
Simple, teachers love it, lots of love and laughter collecting “most amazing childhood books that one no longer reads” but that “will open doors of imagination to fantastic worlds and futures” for children that live in hurtful, saddening environments with little joy and hope. Plus,
- add a FUNdraiser for shipping costs
- add a creative touch with messages of love to packaging
- add what else might make a library and reading space more awesome
GAMES DRIVES
Germans (and others) can hardly do book drives for recipients in english or french speaking countries, BUT an often ignored item opening hup hundreds of hours of dreaming, play and fun are collaborative board games, and that’s what we all can contribute. One think to think about:
- Rulesheets. Download and print or translate to the target language; that’s a great task for middle or high schoolers.Â
LEGO DRIVES
It may be a long time ago, but we all remember spending hours sunk in creative play. Imagine kids that don’t even know that LEGO exists. It’s a great add-on to complement creative community libraries with something for the little ones – and, learning from teenage charity champs
- we may also package 1 kg bags of LEGO for children to take home.Â
ARTS DRIVES
Hey, poor people don’t even have crayons, brushes, colors – *paper* – while in other countries, these are super cheap, especially when acquired in bulk or donated in bulk by a store. Tip:
- add some unusual items from creative crafts stores for kids to experiment with, or even some books with unusual ideas
ACROBATICS DRIVES
It may not be for everybody, like art isn’t, but for some clubs, ropes, hoops, juggling balls are THE THING and nurture skills than can turn into a profession. There’s definitely some of those around in cellars, if not they are cheap to buy. It’s a must add-on, for best results
- add an inspiring book with acrobatic tricks or create one using online photos and youtube screenshots.
PHONE DRIVES
Countless still good phones lie idle in cupboards, get trashed or given away for … we don’t really know what use. We have unusual, very good use
- for Kakuma Refugee Camp Girls Group members (who cannot afford phones, not even tarriff) as storage device for hero*ine stories, films, music to immerse themselves, get inspired, learn tricks, share with peers
- for children and youth in other partner regions who can hardly afford phones, but have access to internet via their organization, family, in cafes and public spaces.
ROBOTICS KITS
This is advanced and only for recipient spaces that are well organized with supervision, such as in
- Uganda : John’s rural school, Learning Lab and Teacher Training centre with Youth Leadership LearnSpace
- India : Bal Manch and Red Brigade learning centres for kids, girls and youth
A MICRO FABLAB
Another special venture: 3D printer, books with cool kid science experiments, plenty of tiny tool stuff and ingredients that are cheap in affluent cities but rare and unaffordable in low income regions. For our partners with outstanding youth leadership centres it adds superb learning for their youth but also boosts presence and interaction with the community, families and schoolsÂ
- Uganda : John’s rural school, Learning Lab and Teacher Training centre with Youth Leadership LearnSpace
- India : Bal Manch and Red Brigade learning centres for kids, girls and youth