november-2009

IMAGES GLENNA GORDON
A
couple of times a week, Sampson Dolo heads into the
Liberian bush armed with only a smile and a red
rubber ball. He drives from Harper in the south-east
of the country to an even more remote location. When he
arrives in what feels like the middle of nowhere, scores of
children fl ock to his car, all saying one thing over and over
again: “Circle, circle, circle! Big, big circle!”
Before Dolo leaves his car, the children have formed their
own circle. They all join hands and push the circle outwards,
making sure everyone is included. This in and of itself is an
important part of the process, as many of Liberia’s confl icts
30 | Brussels Airlines b.spirit! magazine | Nov/Dec 09
n Right To Play’s
mission is to
improve the lives
of children in the
world’s most
disadvantaged
places
f These children
attend school, but
many others in
Liberia are not so
fortunate
Glenna Gordon reveals how one NGO is
teaching life skills though play in Liberia
have stemmed from exclusion and indicators of difference.
Once the children have joined together, several games are
played. In one game, the kids sing ‘Riding on a pony’, while
one child runs around inside the circle, pretending to be on
a horse. When the song fi nishes, they have to let another
child take their turn – an action that doesn’t necessarily
happen during unstructured playtime and one that can’t
be taught during class time.
Dolo, a 32-year-old Liberian, works for the Canadian NGO
Right To Play. “When you engage with kids, you feel like a kid
yourself,” he says, with a grin.