Jugar para Soñar (Colombia)

• In Event: Early Childhood Innovations in Conflict and Crisis Contexts during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Proposal

More than 5.5 million Venezuelans have left the country in search of better living conditions. Children face high levels of family separation, severe protection risks, disease, and limited access to formal and non-formal learning opportunities. In addition, Venezuelan children face elevated discrimination because of their ethnicity and migratory status, affecting their psychological and emotional development. Caregivers face high levels of anxiety, stress, and poor general health, and increased risk of relying on negative coping strategies to meet their basic needs. In Colombia, where Venezuelan migrants undertake a harrowing journey on foot across the country, the IRC has implemented safe play spaces along the migration route where Venezuelan migrant families pass through en route to their final destinations. Using Human Centered Design (HCD) approaches, IRC has worked with a local partner to develop a first of its kind ECDiE intervention for this population. Previously, the vast majority of services focused on health, shelter, and legal support, neglecting to address the critical early learning and nurturing care needs of young children. Through a rapid research exercise, the team learned that families were very eager to learn how they could support the cognitive and emotional development of their children while undertaking this journey. This included user journey mapping, role playing, and other human centered design methodologies, which resulted in the development of a traveling backpack with age-appropriate toys and playful learning materials, information sessions with caregivers, and basic information to connect them to critical services such as health, nutrition and protection. Jugar para Sonar or Play to dream was developed through the integration of IRC’s Preschool Healing Classrooms, Families Make the Difference, and our partner’s play-based learning methodologies. This allowed for a targeted intervention that would not only create an enjoyable experience for children while visiting the play spaces but also promoting the continuation of playful with caregivers along the migration route. This presentation will highlight findings from semi-structured interviews, focus groups, workshops, observations, simple surveys, and desk research in addition to prototyping early iterations of the content.

Authors

• Gabriela Pena, IRC

• Katelin Wilton, International Rescue Committee