Rebuilding a School Playground for Guatemalan Kids

This August I will be going to Guatemala to design and build a playground at Colegio Mesoamerican in partnership with the Meso Foundation, a local charity who have been running the school for 25 years.

The Playground Project Proposal

The school’s playground fell into disrepair and has subsequently been taken down, leaving the students without a dedicated space to explore their full range of sensory and motor skills. Re-designing and reintegrating the playground aims to provide a a social, physical and sensory learning environment for disadvantaged children. The project proposes to create at least two play structures, catering to different ages groups and abilities.

About Meso Foundation

The non-profit foun

dation is on a mission to empower the native people of Guatemala with opportunities. The school aims to create the right environment, tools, and connections to

transform their students into tomorrow’s leaders.

“Poverty lies at the heart of our challenges, Guatemala has a poverty rate of approximately 48.4%, with rural areas experiencing even higher rates (World Bank, 2021). However, to break the cycle of poverty for a child, education alone is insufficient. The child needs to be in an environment where various factors, such as social and psychological elements, do not perpetuate the cycle. This ensures that the child does not follow the same path.” - Meso Foundation

About CAUKIN Studio

CAUKIN Studio was founded in 2015 by a group of friends from Canada, the UK and Indonesia who were studying architecture together at university.

Since its inception, CAUKIN has worked on more than 50 design and construction projects worldwide, spending a combined total of more than 190,000 hours educating on site across 5 continents. CAUKIN strives to increase our impact across International Development, Education, Collaboration, Women in Construction and much more.

How can architecture be employed to address poverty and improve the quality of life for children in Guatemala?