PW Nov 09 P38.qxd:PW Nov 09 P38.qxd 06/11/2009 11:29 Page 38
Park Appeal
www.parkworld-online.com
Tjeko Fun Village
Where children can be children
A new kind of amusement park in being planned in Uganda, to non-government
give children a much-needed break from their daily routine. organisations to ensure that
Ferdi van den Bergh explains his vision for Africa’s first even the poorest child can
“social profit fun park” enjoy Tjeko Fun Village.
Donors will also be able to
I
first visited Uganda in 1999 and, after eight years running an after- sponsor tickets that local
school programme for inner city kids in New York, my wife Tatiana families can “earn” in
and I decided to move back there. After four months of volunteer exchange for work in the
work in Jinja Town, we became frustrated at the lack of any local park or community.
playground facilities; somewhere we could take our own daughter. But first we need to build the park, and find investors. Running any
After talking to our Ugandan friends we realised that there was a huge kind of attraction requires a great deal of money, resources and
hole in the market for child-focused recreational activities, and that’s momentum. The African continent in particular seems a tough nut to
odd because 50% of Uganda’s population is younger than 15 years old. crack when it comes to creating successful recreational attractions.
Within a 60-kilometre radius of Jinja Town alone there We intend to develop Tjeko Fun Village in three stages. The first stage
are around 800,000 children between the ages will start in 2010/2011 with a mobile initiative called
of 5 and 12. Tjeko Play Clinics. The plan is to tour schools,
Although they enjoy free primary school orphanages and village squares and offer
education, most of these children also children a day of fun on their doorstep.
help their families with domestic work. Here we can pilot different concepts, while
Before they go to school they help get building the Tjeko brand and raising awareness.
water, they work hard at school, and then Several parties have already agreed to donate “low-
when they come home they help around the house maintenance” attractions, such as inflatables.
or on the field. There seems to be a lot of work
Tjeko and Anacheza
When we have created enough momentum for a full
…and little play. There should be somewhere time park, we will continue to stage two, knowing that
these children can go to be children, a place that brings fun into their chances of success are much higher. Then, once we have built the basic
lives. We hope that place will be Tjeko Fun Village. elements (a play village, theatre, restaurant) the challenge will be to
The concept embodies the spirit of the United Nations’ Convention on sustain the park through its own income, and watch it grow. We hope to
the Rights of the Child. In simple terms this article states that every child add extra attractions based on park income or sponsorship and perhaps
has the right to rest, to engage in play and recreational activities, and to one day find additional locations.
take part in artistic expressions. Tjeko Fun Village is looking for partners to assist us in reaching these
These values have been brought to life as cartoon characters and goals (see below for more details). With your help, we can improve local
park mascots designed by Big Picture Creations. Our key characters are children’s emotional, mental and physical well-being. Hopefully we can
Tjeko and Tjeka (Tjeko is the Swahili word for laughter and amusement), bring a little “Tjeko” into their life.
as well as Wasaa (leisure time), Anacheza (play), M-Chezo
(game/match) and Dhania Ferdi van den Bergh is a developer of chldren’s education programmes.
(imagine). We hope each of He can be contacted at
ask@tjeko.info. Follow the Tjeko blog at
these friendly figures, and the
www.tjeko.blogspot.com and
www.twitter.com/tjeko
sentiments behind them, will
appeal to local children.
Tjeko Fun Village will be Get involved!
accessible to all children,
Industry professionals wanting to lend their support or expertise to
regardless of their
Tjeko Fun Village can visit
www.tjeko.info for more details. To
background. Tjeko is not a raise the money needed for stage 1, a grid has been devised
charity; it’s a social-profit featuring “tickets” which are sold for €10 ($15) a piece.
business. A park that’s known Companies can buy multiple tickets if they wish, and become a
for giving away free tickets gold, platinum or diamond sponsor (100, 500 or 1,000 tickets).
looses its appeal. So families
Once all the tickets are sold, 20,000 children will receive a visit
will have to pay to get in.The
from the Tjeko Play Clinic, which will raise further awareness of the
entrance fee will be the
Tjeko concept, ahead of the park’s
equivalent of 40 to 80 euro
anticipated construction in 2012. As
cents per child, and we will
well as direct financial contributions,
work closely with primary
the park’s developers are also seeking
schools, orphanages and
offers of help from those
with experience developing
LEFT: Ferdi van den Bergh
or operating attractions.
launches Tjeko in Amsterdam
38
NOVEMBER 2009
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