OLIVE BRANCH PLAYGROUND BUILDERS FOUNDATION

The Playground Builders Foundation continued building playgrounds in war-torn areas with an emphasis on Palestine (the West Bank) and Afghanistan. To date the charity has build 300 playgrounds in regions where war impacts the health and safety of children. We facilitate building playgrounds in schools community spaces and orphanages and have created play for about 2 million disadvantaged children. We ensure that the playgrounds are maintained by renewing the older and well-used playgrounds on an ongoing basis. The charity engages local people and NGO's to build and install the playgrounds thereby helping societies in crisis by injecting money into the local economy and creating much needed jobs. The Board of the Charity and volunteers personally underwrite the administrative and any travel costs so that virtually every dollar donated to the charity goes directly to building and maintaining the playgrounds.

Due to the recent war in Gaza our playground installations and renewals have stopped. However we are preparing to commence a playground building program in Gaza once peace is secured. The children of Gaza suffer from PTSD and stress related issues and will need play and laughter. Similarly children especially girls in Afghanistan face extreme change with restrictive rules governing their public behavior and social access. This fiscal period Playgrounds Builders worked closely with a young women's youth group to provide limited financial assistance to make food accessible to deprived children in Gaza.