In war-torn Sarajevo, the same odd contrast exists. In the midst of a war zone, where buildings bear the pock marks of bullets and mortars, a playground stands ready to offer the children relief from wartime tension-- and allows them to be what they are.... kids.

These playgrounds, perhaps the most beautiful structures in town, didn't just appear. Each took months of preparation and planning, and hundreds of man-hours to build them. What is perhaps the most fascinating is that each was purchased, shipped, built and given to the children of those desperate communities by American men and women, predominantly from Illinois, and as part of the children's ministry, Kids Around the World.

Founder and president Jim Rosene has been on each of the excursions which have resulted in large playgrounds popping up on the local landscape. "These playgrounds are terrific door openers for us to help local governments and churches as they reach out to meet the needs of their own people. Sure, they're pretty expensive and it takes a lot to put them together. But just talk to any member of our team. They've seen the faces of the children and their parents when the playground is dedicated. Ask them if it's worth it. I'm sure each team member will give you an enthusiastic "YES!"

Like Sarajevo, local government officials will supply approximately 350 cubic meters of sand and 20 truck loads of topsoil for the GameTime playground structure in Ghan.

"We get quite a number of requests," Johnson explains. "But when we received an invitation from the First Lady of Ghana to come and build a playground for the children of the capital city of Accra, we knew we had to go there. It's a huge city, and we know we can't help every kid. But we can touch thousands, and each one of them will be forever grateful."

The playgrounds are used, on average, eighteen hours every day. Some days, it's twenty-four hours, depending on the weather. "I don't know of any playground here in the states that gets that kind of use," enthuses board member Jerry Flaming. "There are long lines just to use the swings. Can you imagine? And we're dedicated to keeping them in good shape for years to come." Flaming recently returned from Brovary where he delivered much-needed replacement parts.

The GameTime playground structure for Ghan will require local government officials to supply approximately 350 cubic meters of sand and twenty truck loads of topsoil.

"Kids Around the World will supply a crew of eighteen American men and women trained in the quick construction of the playground," remarks board member Chuck Salberg. "It will require no less than fourteen days to complete the project."

"We will dedicate the playground on October 24,"promises Peterson. "This will be our fourth, and we've never missed a deadline yet."

While construction crew builds the playground in Accra, other members of the team will be performing puppet programs in the public schools.

According to Rosene, "It's a wonderful opportunity to tell the kids how much we love them, to teach them moral stories, and to share our Christian faith. In Brovary, our teams performed for 12,500 school aged kids between the ages of four and fourteen. We not only gave them two playgrounds, but each of them received their very own Bible, a pencil, and a note pad of paper. When we left, you knew we had been there. What an impact!" lasn

Kids Around the World, a donation-based ministry, plans to build at least one major playground in some needy part of the world every year. While most team members pay their own way to participate, it still costs the organization about $50,000 to build the playground. For further information on how Landscape Architects can participate, contact the organization at 815-636-0773.