Swings in Bolivia Project: Spreading Happiness
By Rease Kirchner
Featured photo credit: Swings in Bolivia Project
I recently stumbled upon the Swings in Bolivia project and immediately fell in love with this cause.
The short version is that some awesome people are going to install swings throughout Bolivia to spread pure, innocent joy. They had me at swings. Seriously, who doesn’t love swings? Personally, I have a hard time walking by any empty swings.
The idea
The idea started as a conversation about the simple pleasures of swings. This idea morphed into a multi-city experiment. After installing swings in San Francisco, Marshall Islands, Panama and Los Angeles and receiving excellent feedback, the team has decided to bring this project to Bolivia.
The project leader, Jeff Waldman, informed me that the team is “an alternating list of people who are happy to help and participate where they can,” He added that he has “no shortage of good, creative and inspired friends who are willing to make this stuff happen, no matter what country.”
Spread happiness wherever you can
When I asked if they would be looking for volunteers to work on the Bolivia project, he told me that he was always happy to have people on board. In fact, Jeff encourages people to do these types of projects with or without him. “Make a day of it, film and photograph the process and the results and send it our way because we absolutely LOVE seeing that stuff.” I really appreciate that he is not territorial about his project at all; he is truly focused on the idea of spreading happiness.
Here is how you can help.
Help fund the project. They have a kickstarter page and their July 15th deadline is approaching fast. Send them some money!
Volunteer. Help them out in Bolivia!
Give. They need everything from gear, expertise, ideas and passion for this project and future projects.
Spread the word. Seriously, tell everyone you know.
I am thrilled about this project. I hope you are too and I really hope you show your support whether it be through a donation or simply tweeting this like crazy.
Rease is a US citizen who fled the Midwest in favor of ex-pat life in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She is bilingual and is very capable of cussing you out in Spanish. She loves gaining and sharing knowledge of local cultures, customs and adventure, and she especially loves getting sassy with anyone who gets in her way. Her favorite place in the world is any artisan ice cream shop in Argentina.
