Al-Fardos Children Park reopens its doors

Um Rayyan has finally managed to allow her kids to play at the nearby park, without being concerned over letting them go outside, all thanks to the intervention of both Totol and Women for Peace organizations who worked on the children’s park rehabilitation project in the Al-Fardos neighborhood in Al-Raqqa after they received funding via the Father Paolo grant provided by the CSSC.

 

A total of 200 new shrubs have been planted, which in the course of a few years will have  significant improvement on the Children’s Park on both the environmental and aesthetic level and on  the overall environment of the Al-Fardos  neighborhood in the city of Raqqa.

 

In terms of the exterior, the park wall was repaired and painted, while its gate was provided with a plaque bearing its name, “Children’s Park in Al-Raqqa” accompanied by fitting graffiti.

 

The project started by cleaning the garden and removing the excess rubble and dirt from the park, then maintaining the benches, containers and playground equipment, painting them with two layers of suitable colors, and spreading sand as a surface material under playground equipment for safety.

 

 

The team also worked on planting the garden with grass and shrubs and supplying them with water, to increase the green area in the park, without forgetting to pay attention to the old plants.

 

The members also painted tree trunks and cut off their branches, removing the damaged ones.

 

Resources and circumstances allowed for the implementation of additional activities that were not included in the initial project plan, such as the installation of pipes dedicated to the irrigation of cultivated areas within the park, in addition to the cultivation of artificial grass in several spots across the park.

 

The project not only aimed at rehabilitating the park but also sought to ensure its sustainability through awareness campaigns for the beneficiaries.

 

The campaign was carried out for the children of Al-Fardous and Al-Naim neighborhoods to raise the environmental awareness of the target community, which in turn should ensure the sustainability of the project.

 

The Children’s Park rehabilitation project was conceived based on the vision of the two organizations with the aim to provide access to decent and sustainable living conditions, as well as supporting and protecting children.

 

It also provided employment opportunities for 16 people. The work also contributed to activating communication and cooperation between Totol and Women for Peace organizations as well as Shabab Oxygen organization which oversaw the afforestation side of the project.

 

In addition,  the project improved the level of coordination with the Civil Council and the municipality, as the problems encountered in the implementation of the project were addressed and overcome through the cooperation of the implementers with all concerned parties.

 

Both adults and children expressed their excitement that the park was revived. Ahmad, Dawood and Mayyas, are three children who, after noticing the rehabilitation work, started to go to the park on daily basis and became good friends as a result.

 

Other children headed to the park even before rehabilitation work was completed, some said, when taking a break from playing ,that they prefer to spend time at the park instead of being home unable to do any physical activities.

 

Media outlets visited the park and covered the project, among which were: AFP, Bissan FM and other websites.