Adventure Style Playground for the children of Chukmuk
Aldea Maya assistance for Mayan families is a registered Canadian charity that has been working in the highlands of Guatemala since 2007. We are also a registered Guatemalan charity called Quchooch in Guatemala. We are based on Vancouver Island. We focus on the village of Chuk Muk. This village was constructed for the survivors of the Panabaj mudslide which killed over 600 people in one night, October 5, 2005. The Andalusian government, in Spain, constructed this village of over 900 houses.
They constructed a large elementary school that presently services around 500 children. This school has a huge covered arena that is used for school gym classes and any event involving the community. This area is one of the main play areas for the children during recess. There is a small lower play area that is used by the preschool and kindergarten children. They are also hoping to convert another area into a basketball court.
There is a large school organic garden that Aldea Maya constructed and has maintained for 12 years. This school garden is an integral part of the school education programs and is another place for students to hang out during recess.
As you can imagine, 500 robust children need several areas in which to play. There is a space that is 10 metres by 7 metres which would be ideal for an adventure style playground. This area would need to be leveled. We would cover it with large wood chips to make it safer. The resulting area would be ideal for a bamboo constructed playground. Cured bamboo is a perfect building material for the playground as it is structurally strong, environmentally friendly, has curved edges and is less likely to rot.
Attached you will find a structural drawing of the proposed project. We hope to build 2 fort structures that are connected by a structurally strong, wobbly bamboo bridge. Both fort structures will be high enough for the area under them to be used as sand boxes, that will be protected during the rainy season. Each fort structure will be connected by one large plastic roof. Both of these forts will have a climbing ladder on one side. They are 1.5 metres high off the ground.
We would like to put in a closed slide so that it does not get too hot and is still usable in rainy season, but the price may dictate what type of slide we use.
Costs for bamboo playground
Project coordinator – Bamboo specialist 2 days work $400 CND
Transportation of bamboo – Gasoline for community truck $400.00 CND
Bamboo – Cost of bamboo $520.00
Cement, sand & tires for each post – Each post requiresCement Q40 & Sand Q10 = Q50
20 posts = Q1000 or $180 CND
Tires- free
Metal connectors with bolts – Q125 each require 20. Q2500 or $450 CND
Metal rods into cement – Q5 each require 20. Q100 or $20
Bolts to attach bamboo flooring – Q 15 each require 40. Q300 or $55
Roofing material
Transparent plastic roof sheeting 10’x 2.6’=Q150
Require 8 =Q1,200.00 or $215 CND
Roof screws Q0.50 need 60 = Q30 or $ 5.00
Climbing net – 2 metre by 3 metre net with attachments $450.00 CND
Slides
Option 1 regular slide Q 3,250.00 or $585 CND
Option 2 incased slide Q12,000.00 or $2150.00 CND
Retaining wall – 30’ x (2’ or 3’) cement block and cement. Aldea Maya will cover this.
Wood chip play surface – $200 CND
Total
Option 1- $ 3,480.00
Option 2- $ 5045.00