Calgary Playgrounds Given New Lives in Vallarta Robson Fletcher - MetroNews | |
go to original August 31, 2013 |
Angels for Mexico volunteers pose with a playground they rebuilt in Puerto Vallarta in May 2011. The group plans to build another playground in Mexico in late September.
Playgrounds that have reached the end of their lifespans at Calgary schools are finding new homes in impoverished areas of Mexico, through the work of local volunteers.
“This is like Disneyland for children down there,” said Christena Callaghan, founder of Angels for Mexico. “It really is. They don’t have anything remotely close.”
As the charity’s latest mission, Callaghan plans to take a group of two dozen Calgarians to an area just outside of Puerto Vallarta in late September to re-assemble a playground that used to stand at Monsignor Neville Anderson School.
The Calgary Catholic School District donated the playground last year, as it was due to be replaced by a new one.
Rande Mergerenn has been involved with Angels for Mexico for the past five years and helped build a playground on a previous trip, which he said was an incredibly gratifying experience.
“When they finally cut the ribbon and said the kids could hit the playground, we should have done a head count, but I think there had to be 150 kids,” he said. “They were just so excited to have this playground.”
The playground the group builds on the upcoming trip will be dedicated to Mergerenn’s wife Karen, who passed away seven years ago.
He said Puerto Vallarta has been a “second home” to his family and Karen’s mother lives there now.
“She’s pretty excited that we’re doing something there and it’s something she can go see that’s been dedicated in honour of her daughter,” he said.
Callaghan said the group is still looking for two more volunteers to make the trip and help build the playground, September 21-28.
After rebuilding a playground in Mexico, Christena Callaghan said her group typically does a presentation to the school in Calgary from which it originated. “That’s one of my favourite parts too, because then the children here get to see how much they really have,” she said.
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