BASF and Think Playgrounds build 5th public playground in Vietnam
- Project aims to develop creativity and exploration among 700 plus children
- Facility built in rural area of Hanoi using child-friendly materials
Hanoi, Vietnam – December 22, 2021 – BASF continues its partnership with social enterprise Think Playgrounds to offer a public playground for children and the local community in Hanoi. Housed inside Phú Châu charity for underprivileged children in Phú Châu Commune, Ba Vì District, Hanoi, the project will provide 17 children from this charity and more than 700 kids living in the neighborhood with a safe and engaging learn-through-play environment. The charity is initiated and operated by YWAM Mercy Vietnam, an NGO (non-governmental organization), which also runs two other charities in Tản Lĩnh and Ba Vì Communes, Ba Vì District, Hanoi taking care of 62 underpriviligedchildren in total.
The playground and outdoor toys are built using child-friendly materials including wood, rope and reusable materials, such as old tires. The project will provide the young generation an opportunity to have an engaging interaction with nature and instill the habit of reusing and recycling. The facility also aims to promote exploration, inspire creativity and develop different skills among the kids.
Erick Contreras, Managing Director, BASF Vietnam says, “Despite the challenges of Covid-19, our endeavor is to continue providing support in the area of educational development. We are pleased to build the 5th playground for underprivileged children, in partnership with Think Playgrounds. The pandemic has prevented our children from exploring outdoor learn and play, which can unfortunately impact their physical, emotional, social and mental health. We hope this facility can help them reconnect with nature and boost their spirit. With this initiative, we aim to provide children a positive experience and create memories that they can cherish.”
Nguyen Tieu Quoc Dat, Co-founder and Vice Director of Think Playgrounds adds, “We have partnered with BASF since 2019 and appreciate the efforts to jointly revitalize public spaces and offer playgrounds for children. The new facility in Ba Vì District demonstrates our continuous partnership as well as our joint commitment to contribute to community development. We look forward to partnering with many more organizations like BASF, who care about the development of children in those cities lacking public spaces, which are essential for children’s mental and physical development.”
Roslyn Jackson, representative of YWAM Mercy, says, “With over 20 years of experience in supporting Vietnamese underprivilegdedkids, we truly understand the importance of total development, both physical and mental, for each child. Therefore, this playground is a great place to play and interact with each other, and supports total development not just for our kids but also those children living in the neighboring areas.“
Play is essential to early childhood development and children are encouraged to explore outdoor play. However, the rapid urbanization of big cities in Vietnam has led to a reduction in public spaces and shortage of playgrounds. The lack of public areas as well as poor conditions of the existing facilities hinder mental and physical development of children.
In 2019, to celebrate the milestone of 25 years of operations in Vietnam, BASF had partnered with Think Playgrounds to build four public playgrounds for over 12,000 school kids in Yen Bai province, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The project enables safe and high-quality play facilities for children, especially the underprivileged ones.
Apart from the collaborative playground donation initiative, BASF Vietnam has been active in multiple community projects. For instance, BASF has partnered with Saigon Children’s Charity to renovate schools to enhance facilities and improve hygiene and safety conditions. Moreover, BASF has provided scholarships to disadvantaged university students for four years of their studies and holds the interactive education program BASF Kids’ Lab on an annual basis for primary school students. The company also offers BASF Virtual Lab, a website for primary students to do fun online chemistry experiments from the comfort of their homes or schools.
About BASF in Vietnam
BASF has been active in Vietnam since the establishment of its representative office in 1994. BASF Vietnam Limited was set up in 2009. The company maintains two sales offices in Hồ Chí Minh City and Hà Nội, offering solutions for Vietnam’s key industries, including agriculture, construction, automotive, footwear, paint & coatings and electric & electronics. BASF’s sales to customers in Vietnam were approximately €284 million in 2020. BASF employed 117 staff in Vietnam as of the end of 2020. Further information on BASF in Vietnam is available at www.basf.com/vn.
About Think Playgrounds
Think Playgrounds (TPG) is a pioneer social enterprise with a mission of working together with urban residents to build playgrounds, community gardens as well as friendly public space renovation for children and disabled people in Vietnam.
Established in 2014, TPG believes that functional and qualitative public spaces is fundamental to achieving social equity to increase life quality of urban citizens, especially children. This organization has collaborated with different partners, communities and donors to build over 100 playgrounds, community gardens and public spaces among Vietnam.
TPG has been awarded many prizes and recognition from many organizations and government such as “Green City Solution” by The Embassy of Denmark, “Urban 95” by Bernard Van Leer Foundation, Winner of "The social cohesion challenge” by Da Nang Climate Change Coordination Office (CCCO) in collaboration with Da Nang Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism...
TPG has also initiated campaigns to raise awareness of children's right to play and the importance of free and outdoor play to children’s development through community workshops and events such as PlayDay, PlayStreet, Play Campaign...
About YWAM Mercy BASF Vietnam
YWAM Mercy Vietnam is a locally run community development program in Vietnam. We believe people have the capacity to improve their lives and the key to helping communities often lies in or near the community with minimal outside intervention. YWAM Mercy Vietnam believes that everyone is valuable and deserves opportunity. Depending on the person, or the community, that opportunity could be in the form of a cow bank, a micro loan, business training, parenting training or one of many community specific solutions we are implementing. YWAM Mercy Vietnam is a member of the larger YWAM Mercy network which is part of the YWAM Family of Ministries.
Media Contacts:
Đỗ Kim Chung
Manager, Corporate Affairs
Phone: +(84 8) 3824 3833
Mobile: +(84) 912 131 288
Think Playgrounds
Nguyễn Tiêu Quốc Đạt
Co founder & Vice Director
Phone: +(84-024) 62509539
Mobile: +(84)989 259 480
