Srinagar: One of the sectors that were hit the most due to the Pandemic was the Education sector. With schools getting shut due to the Lockdown, the children had developed fear and anxiety of the virus with more than hundreds of child mental health cases getting reported in the region of Kashmir in 2020 itself. It affected the child’s holistic development as the children were not allowed to go to play, affecting their focus on academics and holistic growth.
With online classes going on in full swing, students had no option but to get glued to their smartphones and spend long hours on the screen, leading to other health problems such as weaker eyesight, body aches, restlessness and hyperactivity.
To address these concerns, The STEARS (Step Towards Educated And Responsible Society), an organization that works in the sphere of youth, peace, community and education, came up with the idea of creating Safe Spaces for children where they could freely express themselves and enjoy while learning skills relevant to the 21st century. Thus, on World Children’s Day 2021 on 21st November, 2021, The STEARS in collaboration with Anthill Creations, an organization that works on building sustainable playscapes for children and with the support of Child Nurture and Relief (CHINAR), Kashmir inaugurated their first Safe Spaces Park at CHINAR Home, an orphanage at Khanpora, Budgam in Kashmir.
The USP of the park was that it was created from discarded materials such as tyres, plastics, pipes and so on that was reused in creative ways. The Community Playspace was further beautified by the children at CHINAR Home who painted and created designs, while using the material in innovative ways fostering teamwork, leadership, decision-making and problem-solving skills.
The team of IIT Kharagpur engineers from Anthill Creations had designed these parks with their core intention to reuse and recycle waste material, an environment-friendly exercise, integrating the concepts of community learning and environmental protection.
“The Park is an advanced concept where the space is intriguing for both privileged and under-privileged children. The motive is to give them a space where they can grow with a sense of humility and empathy towards one another,” Sreejith Ajith, the chief designer of the park.
The park has been designed in a way to break the stereotypical notions of classes, as it allows access to children from all classes of society, inculcating a sense of deeper empathy and tolerance for each other, sticking true to the vision of The STEARS, ‘Peacebuilding through Education’, while giving the children an opportunity to transform their internal conflict to a sense of community ownership and social change.
Masooma Zehra, the in-charge of CHINAR Home said, “The holistic development of a child includes physical development, and the pandemic has largely affected the outdoor activities of the children. They are locked up in one place and they don’t go to school. This impacts the psyche of the children, and orphans in particular are always in mental trauma.”
The Park creators recalled how in earlier times, true to the Mohalla System, the children would come despite of the class differences without any feeling of being judged, but today the modern colony has driven a wedge between the privileged and under-privileged classes, thus affecting the psycho-social aspects of the child’s personality.
“We came up with an idea to create safe spaces, where without adult supervision, the children of all classes can play and explore their individuality; learn the social ethos, and develop empathy, love, and compassion for one another,” Omar Hafiz, the founder of the STEARS
The STEARS now aims to build these Safe Spaces for children by constructing amusement parks in each of the 10 districts of Kashmir, especially in areas where children are deprived of leisure and play spaces.
