Squamish’s Reza Marvasti, founder and CEO of The Power of Play, which builds sustainable playgrounds for kids in hard-hit areas around the world, is back in town after working on a playground project in South Sudan.
His organization has recently launched a division focused on creating playgrounds for children in Indigenous communities closer to home, such as for the Lytton First Nation and the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in the U.S.
All the playgrounds start with local collaboration so that what results suits the community’s needs and wishes, Marvasti stressed.
A new playground would be a welcome sight for the folks of the Lytton First Nation, who have survived much — most recently, of course, the fire that levelled much of the community at the end of June.
Home for hundreds of the members of the Lytton First Nation is on its 56 reserves outside the Village of Lytton boundaries. The community’s population is currently scattered while they wait for the OK to return.
Rosalin Miles is a Lytton First Nation community member and UBC Indigenous scholar and research associate with Indigenous Studies in Kinesiology (ISK).
While she currently lives on Musqueam lands in Vancouver, she has a family home in the Village of Lytton, and she owns a rental home there. Her tenant had about 10 minutes to flee and had to leave almost all her belongings behind, Miles said. Other folks Miles knows lost their homes, pets and belongings.
“It is really needed right now,” Miles said of a playground.
Marvasti and Miles work on the philosophy that playing is central to children's mental health and development.
“We believe that playfulness helps with meditative thinking, problem-solving and it also brings family together. It is aligned with a lot of the community-based research that we do at UBC," Miles said.
She said one of the tragic parts of the Lytton wildfire is that children who live on the west side of the river had to watch from across the water as the town burned to the ground on June 30.
“Over 100 houses on the west side, and you are divided by a river, and you see your town on fire. [The kids were] worried about people, about animals, worried about homes — your grocery store, your fire hall, your RCMP, your family’s home. The impact on the children is real. It is really quite sad.”
The new playground is destined for this west side of the Fraser River, which is accessed by a cable ferry.
When the ferry isn’t able to operate, such as during high water, folks are isolated from the rest of the town.
The Power of Play aims to be sustainable by upcycling. For the Lytton First Nation, a decommissioned playground in West Kelowna was acquired.
“Usually, these playgrounds end up in landfills, so we talked to them and they gave us that playground, which we are now refurbishing and repurposing,” Marvasti said.
The play area will not just include fun structures and activities for children.
“With this playground, what we want to do is create a shaded community area for the elders to come and teach their art, culture and language to the younger generation,” Marvasti said, adding the shaded area will be created with a sail. Miles added that given Lytton can be the hottest place in Canada, a water park or misting station would be welcome.
The whole project, though, is currently on standby.
The community remains on wildfire evacuation order and the upcycled playground can’t get to the community due to road closures. Even the location where the equipment is being stored is under threat of fire.
To top it all off, a mudslide temporarily closed Highway 1 over the weekend.
“It has really been a disaster,” said Miles.
“The goal right now is just to get the playground to Lytton, but sadly, right now, everything has just been shelved because we are waiting for stabilization of the fires,” she said.
But there is also much to look forward to.
Miles said a big dream for the Nation, in addition to the playground, is to also have an outdoor ice rink.
While Lytton is known for being a Canadian hotspot, it also becomes freezing cold in winter, she noted.
“Having activities for children and opportunities for families to come together is really important,” she said.
Those interested in helping with these projects can donate to the Lytton First Nation by emailing lfndonations@lfn.band. To donate directly for the ice rink, write "Ice Rink" in the subject line; for the playground, put "Playground" in the subject line.
Marvasti, too, said that the need for playgrounds outstrips the funds available. To donate or find out more about The Power of Play go to, thepowerofplay.ca.
