One doesn’t need fancy toys to play. Two clubs from India, the Disciples for Peace Club and The Play for Peace (PFP) Club in Mumbai are two of our many clubs that participated in Compassion Games’ 12-day campaign, The Giving Games: Youth and Schools Play it Forward. Many things that they played were as simple as with a paper and pencil or with one another!
Founded in 2013, the Play for Peace Club Mumbai aims to bring children together to play and reduce their fear of people who are different from themselves. During the 12-day Giving Games campaign, they carried out several "unleashing activities" with children and youth whom hardly have the chance to express themselves. With the guidance of volunteers, they shared stories and feelings through different non-competitive games, and learned to spend more time connecting with the self and each other as well as focusing more on what they have and what makes them happy.
One of the participants shared after joining the "Unleashing Patience" activity, "[I’ve learnt to] express gratitude to self rather than blaming and becoming prisoners. Expressing gratitude to everyone around and sharing love. I’m so happy and grateful for the day with these beautiful angels."
Another game called "Give Appreciation" inspires members of the PFP Club Mumbai to express their gratitude through drawing and delivering cards to people in communities who work really hard but may not receive much credit for what they do.
Give Appreciation participants shared, "We know lot of people around us do little wonderful things to make this place peaceful and help others. We wanted [to] reach out to many and appreciate them all."
Another club from India, Disciples for Peace Club, founded in 2016, works in communities that have issues like child labor, child marriages, and youth unemployment. Many children and youth in the club are deprived of their human rights to have a normal and healthy childhood. During the 12-day Giving Games campaign, the Disciples for Peace Club helped children and youth in difficult situations rebuild and re-live their lost childhood and youth. They created a Peace Tree using paper leaves with messages of peace and learned to develop positive relationships with others and learn more about each other. The club also played the "Dream Catching" game with over 40 participants. Participants shared their biggest dream on a piece of paper and these papers were then placed at least 30 feet away from them. Participants, gathered inside a circle, had to work with each other inside the circle to catch their dreams, which are hard to reach. Everyone had a great time with this body brain game.
"We learned that to achieve our dreams in real life, we will have the same challenges. But if we have passion and faith in us and support from family and community, we can overcome any challenges. It will help us achieve our dreams with the aid of others."
And like many others who have participated in the 12-day Giving Games campaign, they’ve learned through Play for Peace, "We shouldn't lose hope to achieve our dreams."