Final Playground Installation

Today’s project for the worksite was to put the playground in place and hang the remaining shade sails. We had requested the night before that some metal plates be welded to the base of the playground so that there would be a way to bolt the playground to the concrete. Luckily this actually happened and someone showed up mid morning with a cement drill to attach the playground to the cement. Sometimes, things work out as planned in Vietnam…..rarely, but it can happen. When we arrived at about 8:30 in the morning, there was already a large (15’ x 30’) stage set up for this evening’s event. The stage covered about a 3rd of the playground area, but was luckily far enough forward that we could still put in the playground and the sails. If it wasn’t for that sail pole we had in place, they surely would have put the stage right on top of where the playground belonged. We were able to complete the playground on time with all shade sails in place. Also, while he was out getting chain and bolts yesterday, Dwight saw a wood ships wheel and got the idea to put it on the play structure so the kids could spin it. This took some creative thinking as it needed to be attached to the play structure in a secure way that would not leave sharp bolts in the path of children. With the help of some of the Vietnamese helpers, his idea became reality and we were happy to see many kids playing with the wheel later that day. Dwight also searched the stores in town to find some type of padding to put at the bottom on the slides. He found rubber padding that is about 2-3” thick. Unfortunately, it will not last long with the weather, but at least it will be in place for a little while and may prevent some cracked heads or broken arms. Despite our nature to protect our children in America, it became pretty clear that safety is left to one self here. See other blog entry that mentions playing Tug o’ War on cement!