Translator: Melissa Monge Reviewer: Camille Martínez
How are you?
Audience: Fine!
Awesome!
Do you guys know the game "Rock, paper, scissors?"
Audience: Yes!
Please turn to the person next to you,
and play two out of three.
(Audience chatter)
OK.
We are currently facing many challenges.
I can think of three examples.
Mexico, my country,
holds last place for quality of education,
according to the OECD.
In the last 30 years, child obesity has doubled,
which constitutes an extremely serious public health problem
throughout the world.
Here in Costa Rica,
one of the main causes of suicide among adolescents
is violence and bullying at school.
The game we just played, "Rock, paper, scissors,"
is very simple.
Outwardly nothing sophisticated,
but I saw the excitement on your faces.
I listened to your wonderful laughs,
I saw how you connected with each other,
and how now you even connect better with me.
And this is just one of the powers of games.
This is why it is an extraordinary tool
for educating, instructing children.
Who hasn't heard the phrase "Education is the most important thing"?
And that's because education is indeed the most important thing.
But the key question is: what type of education?
Imagine an education
comprised of fun games with meaningful content,
that invite us to reflect
and practice values such as empathy, fair play and teamwork.
Now, imagine that those same games carry us like surfers on a wave
to take action in tackling the world’s most important challenges,
like preventing disease, conserving water,
and becoming local change agents in our communities.
Finally, imagine if through these games,
girls and boys in Costa Rica could address the problems of violence
and school bullying.
What would happen if these games became part of the official curriculum
of every elementary school in the world?
My message today is that we can revolutionize education
through the power of sports and games,
to form better people, better citizens from childhood.
Based on that belief, seven and a half years ago,
we founded this organization, Sports for Sharing.
Broadly speaking, our approach has two main components:
first; we learn about values,
civic values related to global challenges,
which inspire girls and boys to act.
We then empower kids to act on their inspiration,
with the help of project management tools.
The results are children like Ramón,
whom I'll tell you about in just a bit.
How do we do it?
By involving the entire community.
Yes, we work with moms and dads,
with teachers and with boys and girls.
We also invite recent university graduates
who want to give back to their communities.
We give them their first job,
and they are the ones who work with the teachers
and support them throughout the school year.
Here's an example of the games we play in Sports for Sharing:
You've all played basketball or seen it played.
We play "adapted basketball."
What is "adapted basketball"?
There are two teams.
One team plays with only one foot and the other with only one hand.
Halfway through the game, the teams switch roles.
When the game is over,
we form a reflection circle typical of Sports for Sharing,
where we invite girls and boys to tell us
what they thought, how they felt;
if they can identify whether it's something they've felt before,
feeling excluded or different;
if they were allowed to play, despite not having a foot or a hand,
and what would have happened
if they hadn't been allowed to play because of it?
So we reflect on what they can do starting today
to include everyone in their games and activities.
We also do a comparison
between the right to play and the right to education.
Can you believe
that in a school in one of the most violent areas in Mexico City,
we met Karim, a 10-year-old boy,
who is probably the shiest boy I've ever met in my life?
Yet after the program,
Karim decided to transform into something
that already lived inside him: a superhero.
Karim personifies this superhero.
He decided that his main focus was recycling,
and he teaches the younger kids at his school how to recycle
and how to become involved in recycling activities.
This is his superhero for life.
The same thing happened in a rural setting,
because games are universal,
with little Ramón, whom I mentioned before.
Ramón, from his indigenous community of Tlacoachistlahuaca, Guerrero,
decided that, just like Karim,
he's interested in recycling and started his campaign.
Here you can see, he can't carry even one more piece of trash.
And now I want to share with you briefly,
in María's own words,
her reflections on the program.
Video: (María) "I think I have an important role in my city,
because of gender equality we are all equal, boys and girls,
and we can all participate."
Dina Buchbinder: María says, "I learned about gender equality,
that we are all equal and that we can all participate."
We can take this series of reflections,
and we can transmit them and transform them into actions
through the initiatives that girls and boys do.
For example, in one community,
they made up a rap song against bullying and violence.
Here they are in a local newspaper, very proud of their rap.
And there is also an endless amount of initiatives
that girls and boys do as change agents.
Here you can get a taste of various initiatives:
[Recycling Contest "Oil Expropriation"]
[Initiatives Showcase]
[Newspaper for the Environment]
[Gender Equality Project]
[Anti-Bullying Project]
[Campaign for the Environment]
[Planting Trees]
[Puppets for Respect "José W. Rangel Esparza"]
[Dioramas for the Environment]
DB: In the seven years we've been in operation,
we've been able to work with more than 310,000 people
including moms and dads, girls and boys, and teachers.
Of the 3,800 teachers we've trained,
86 percent have reported a noticeable decrease in violence
among their students.
And 56 percent have told us
that attendance rates in their schools have increased.
And this is no surprise,
because if girls and boys feel happier and safer,
they want to go to school.
This has enabled us to share our program with other countries.
We are currently in the United States, Guatemala and Argentina.
And you know what? This is only the beginning.
In order to address our planet’s biggest challenges
over the next few decades,
the heart of the solution must be in meaningful and fun education
for the youngest members of our society.
What I admire most about Costa Rica, even more than its natural beauty,
are its people, its social entrepreneurs and super-cool initiatives.
(Laughter)
I can think of three examples:
Bellelli Educación, Ideas en Acción and Fundación Quirós Tanzi.
There is a lot to do.
We at Sports for Sharing want to partner with Costa Rica's talent
and bring our model here to share it with all the communities,
and we need your help to do it.
It’s in your hands
for girls and boys like Karim, María and Ramón
to become change agents
all over the world and here in Costa Rica, the land of Pura Vida.
Thank you very much.
(Applause)