Village 6, Azraq Refugee Camp, Jordan.
The Caregivers’ Forum is an invitation for parents and service providers to get more involved in early childhood education. It focuses on communication and place-making. Besides facilitating the forum sessions, we simultaneously host training on design thinking. Towards the end of the cycle, we challenge the participants to implement what they learned by creating a solution to a defined problem of their choice.
In late 2019, participants in the design thinking workshops defined the camp’s lack of fun, educational places as the problem they wanted to solve. Together, we co-designed what a child-friendly library would look like. We researched kids’ needs, as well as caregivers’.
Moving forward, children, caregivers, and I co-designed the elements and artifacts they wanted. It was interesting to see how they all leaned towards animal-themed objects, as the kids living in the camp are not allowed to leave it; they have never seen them in real-life.
For modeling, I used open-source 3D designs for animals, edited them using MeshMixer, then sliced the STLs using Autodesk Slicer. No Wood CNC Machines were available in Azraq, so we were constrained to use 4mm mdf wood for the prototype, then switched to 10mm mFor modeling, I used open-source 3D designs for animals, edited them using MeshMixer, then sliced the STLs using Autodesk Slicer. No Wood CNC Machines were available in Azraq, so we were constrained to use 4mm MDF wood for the prototype, then switched to 10mm MDF boards to be cut on a laser-cutter. The animals/shelves were then painted and placed.
The intervention was implemented in late 2019. The library started getting more young visitors, and kids were excited to learn and play at the same place. In early 2020 the experience was replicated by a UNICEF center inside the camp with few edits to fit their context.
The co-designing approach gave people ownership over the place, and the community itself became guardian over it.
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Hadil Habashneh 