"Play to Heal" competition: toys made by and for children from carton packaging
The 6 best designs will inspire the toys that will be produced with the empty cartons of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) used in health centres for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition
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The "Jouer pour Guérir" competition took place on the weekend of November 25-27 in Bujumbura, as part of an innovative early childhood development project. 100 children and youth, including those living in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) sites or in street situation, grouped into 2 age ranges, 5-10 years and 11-15 years, were encouraged to make toys of their choice from cardboard and other recyclable materials.
The objective was to identify and design contextually adapted toys for the stimulation of children under 5 years of age suffering from severe acute malnutrition who are admitted to Ambulatory Therapeutic Services (ATS) at 3 pilot health centers. Two of these centers are located in the Isale Health District in the province of Bujumbura, and another is located in the Bujumbura Health District, Mairie Centre.
Stimulation through play is one of the recommendations of the World Health Organization and the National Protocol for the Management of Acute Malnutrition (PCIMA), which states that 15-30 minutes of play is an essential element in the recovery of the malnourished child (WHO, 2003). Nevertheless, in Burundi very few health/STA establishments use toys for the stimulation of children, due to a lack of suitable materials.
This is why one of the key elements of this innovative project is the use of empty Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) packaging used in health centers for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition as materials for making toys inspired by the designs created by the children in the competition.
"The box can be attractive to younger children in several ways, including the colors, sticks and numbers. At the same time, the mother or caretaker can also use it to teach the child colors and numbers. The child can also arrange the sticks in the box or elsewhere according to the colors for example."
"My toy is a cardboard ambulance with wheels and I call it "UNICEF Ambulance". We were told that we should think about a toy for sick children or for children who cry, for example. Thanks to this mobile toy, a crying child will pay attention when rolling, so he'll stop crying, or he can just roll it by himself for fun. For a sick child, we can show him the toy and tell him that he is going to the doctor with a vehicle like this. That's why I made mobile doors and windows, so that the child can explore it."
"I made a phone for children who are sick and to play with my friends.
For example, sick children can call the doctor on the phone, so that they can be picked up to go to the hospital.
This is lucky for me to win and I love my present. It's a game to make a butterfly!"
Among the participating children, there were also children from the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) sites. Justin TUYISENGE, 14, was one of them. He won the 4th prize: "The child will try to discover my house (the floor, the stairs inside...) through the doors and windows. Children love to play with houses, cardboard boxes are common in our communities, the child can also search and copy and produce another house by himself.", he explains about his toy.
The 6 winning designs and all the other interesting ones will be improved and provided with a professional touch in order to obtain toys to be multiplied and distributed in the health centers for malnourished children. The pre-selection was made by the participating children themselves, and the selection criteria put forward by the jury were innovation, creativity, excitement of the toy, safety of the toy, level of complexity of the toy, versatility and simplicity.
The competition took place in a playful atmosphere of trust, personal development and freedom of artistic expression, with time for table games, interactive games and dancing between children and animators.
This innovative project is an initiative of the Ministry of Public Health and the Fight Against AIDS, through its National Integrated Food and Nutrition Programme (PRONIANUT) in collaboration with UNICEF Burundi.
