“The key is to be able to connect. If we can help a few, the ripple effect can spread endlessly.” - Play for Peace trainer Chaun Pridgeon
Chaun Pridgeon, a Play for Peace trainer in Chicago, has been a member of the organization for many years. He joined Play for Peace in 1997, at a time when there were few organizations around. Reflecting on how he became involved, he said, “Play for Peace matched my family values and I love children. I liked the idea of the school we were going to partner with and learning games. I loved the international part of Play for Peace and the opportunities they told us we would have.” He believes that with Play for Peace, tensions would be lower because people would have an avenue to express themselves through play and it would promote togetherness, thus spreading more love. Chicago may not be a war zone but children here just like anywhere else in the world face many challenges.
Play for Peace has enabled him to help many of his high school students achieve in life and make it through hardships. “One of our trainers, Bianca Garcia, my former student, was very smart, but it wasn't until after she went to college and was about to graduate that I learned that Play for Peace and I brought her in helped her make it through school. There have been other students who were having life troubles and were suicidal and the club helped them through this tough time,” he said. According to Chaun, the organization has offered youth the opportunity to learn life skills and to grow in their community and internationally. Chaun recently conducted two Play for Peace training at Kilmer Elementary in Chicago on April 5th and May 4th, 2016. The theme was positivity in the world and laughter. The participants had various views about what they would like to do when they grow up, such as helping at a homeless shelter; planting things around the world to sustain life, and one of them wants to grow up to be a great president to make people happy.
According to the children, they had fun and they wished that Play for Peace would come back. Since Play for Peace aims at creating laughter through cooperative play, it also encourages the children to open up about the problems they are facing in life. Chaun expresses that the challenge isn’t getting young kids or even teens to open up. This is because they share information openly if you are genuine with them. In addition, he says that the key is to be able to connect, especially with inner-city youth. One has to relate to them. Chaun also added, “The key is to be able to connect. If we can help a few, the ripple effect can spread endlessly.”
