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Can A Playground Make A Difference In Another Country? · Conversations: Special Guests with Preston Scott

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the third hour of the Morning Show with
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Prestin Scott. Great to be with you. I'm Preston. He's
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: ose sweltering inside the studios of the Morning Show here,
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  Speaker 1: but it's great to be with you as we start
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  Speaker 1: our week show five four hundred and thirty three, And
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  Speaker 1: as promised, joining me on the program is Christine Baling.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: Christine's resume kind of looks like this short version. Senior
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: vice president of professional Affiliations and a faculty member specializing
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  Speaker 1: in Latin American Affairs at the Institute of World Politics,
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  Speaker 1: located in our nation's capital. And Christine joins us on
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  Speaker 1: the phone line this morning. Christine, how are you.
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: I'm doing really well. Great to be with you, gentlemen.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: I appreciate you making time for us. The piece that
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: caught my attention we prompted democracy by building playgrounds in
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  Speaker 1: Columbia fifteen years ago. When I returned, I found live
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: forever changed. Before we get into the details of that,
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  Speaker 1: what prompted you to write this when you did.
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  Speaker 2: Well? I wrote this piece because I made a trip
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  Speaker 2: back down to Colombia a few months ago in April
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  Speaker 2: to visit with the well now adults, the kids, with
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  Speaker 2: whom I had worked starting back in two thousand and nine.
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  Speaker 2: So I had been concerned about the cuts to USAID,
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  Speaker 2: although obviously some of them were warranted, and I kept
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  Speaker 2: thinking to myself that, well, I think that what I
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  Speaker 2: did made a difference. But then I thought, well, how
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  Speaker 2: can I possibly say that if I don't actually talk
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  Speaker 2: to the people themselves.
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  Speaker 1: So you went back there? Now, before we pick up
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  Speaker 1: that story, I think it's useful to go back in time.
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  Speaker 1: Let's go back to this particular project. What was its
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: purpose and when did it all take place?
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  Speaker 2: Well, it started back, as I said, in two thousand
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  Speaker 2: and nine. My late husband was running for senate in
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  Speaker 2: an area of Columbia where the Marxist gorillas were very active,
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  Speaker 2: and so during a campaign stop, a group of kids
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  Speaker 2: came up to me and started talking about what their
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  Speaker 2: very poor village needed. One of the things was a playground.
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  Speaker 2: So on the way back home, I was thinking, well, now,
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  Speaker 2: how expensive would it be to build a playground? But
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  Speaker 2: instead of just giving a gift, and I was probably
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  Speaker 2: inspired by being on a political campaign, I thought, while
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  Speaker 2: the kids should need to use the democratic process to
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  Speaker 2: determine where the playground goes, and why so I contacted
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  Speaker 2: the village's mayor. I asked him to give me two
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  Speaker 2: or three Canada sites. Went back a month later with
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  Speaker 2: a group of kids. We toured the sites, We held
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  Speaker 2: a public debate with kids representing each site, followed by
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  Speaker 2: a vote, and then we built the playground where the
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  Speaker 2: majority of kids had voted for it to be. It
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  Speaker 2: was very moving. They picked the poorest section of this
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  Speaker 2: very poor village. I took a video of the inauguration.
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  Speaker 2: I got it to some folks that are embassy in
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  Speaker 2: Bogatah and ended up having a meeting with USID and
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  Speaker 2: members of Special Operation Command South. I said, if you
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  Speaker 2: all were to give me five thousand dollars, I take
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  Speaker 2: a group of kids from that first village, bring them
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  Speaker 2: to an even more remote village, have the first group
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  Speaker 2: of kids, teach the second group of kids this democratic model,
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  Speaker 2: and I would start creating a network of kids. And
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  Speaker 2: the motto I use for this entire project with Latin
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  Speaker 2: non city, which is Latin for not for self. And
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  Speaker 2: it grew, it grew, you know, one visit to our embassy.
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  Speaker 2: At a time, I was constantly begging for money, and
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  Speaker 2: I'm sure you know a lot of folks who are
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  Speaker 2: involved with non profits understand that. And we went town
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  Speaker 2: by town, playground by playground. We added medical brigades, we
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  Speaker 2: added marches for peace because, just so your listeners understand,
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  Speaker 2: this timeframe was when the Colombian government was negotiating with
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  Speaker 2: the Marxist gorillas, and it was it was incredibly moving
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  Speaker 2: because the kids right away took ownership of the of
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  Speaker 2: the project. They they got a sense of dignity and pride,
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  Speaker 2: not only experiencing what it's like to be a citizen
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  Speaker 2: of a demidocracy, seeing democratic rights in action, but also
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  Speaker 2: being able to help the even less fortunate, the little
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  Speaker 2: kids in their respective communities.
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  Speaker 1: It's a project she spearheaded years ago in Colombia, and
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  Speaker 1: I'm with Christine balling. Christine, give us a little snapshot
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  Speaker 1: of you mentioned the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia may
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  Speaker 1: be better known by some who are well read as
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  Speaker 1: FARC far RC and then the Colombian government at that time.
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  Speaker 1: What are we talking about in terms of the makeup
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  Speaker 1: of the government. What kind of government was going on
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  Speaker 1: there that your husband was running for office.
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  Speaker 2: Well, it's a republic, so a functioning democracy. I think
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  Speaker 2: a lot of folks have heard of Pablo Escobar, the
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  Speaker 2: famous drug pin. When I was operating, this was after
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  Speaker 2: his reign of terror. But the bottom line is is
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  Speaker 2: the far was trying to overthrow the government and also
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  Speaker 2: they were very deeply involved in the cocaine trade and
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  Speaker 2: constantly trying to undermine national security to to make the
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  Speaker 2: Colombian government, which again is functioning to seem illegitimate and
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  Speaker 2: out of control.
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  Speaker 1: Historic particularly go ahead, go ahead, go ahead.
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  Speaker 2: I've got particularly disturbing was the FARK would recruit kids.
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  Speaker 2: That's the bottom line. They would They would be recruiting kids,
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  Speaker 2: often forcibly or otherwise tempting them, saying that they would
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  Speaker 2: be part of a family and empowered, recruiting kids as
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  Speaker 2: young as nine years old.
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  Speaker 1: I was going to say frequently, these these types of gangs,
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  Speaker 1: if you will, or groups or military organizations, they prey
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  Speaker 1: on the poverty, They prey on young people that are
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  Speaker 1: stuck in those circumstances.
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  Speaker 2: That's correct, and so my initiative, not that it was
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  Speaker 2: my intention on the outset, really became some very modest
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  Speaker 2: alternative because the kids who were so used to war,
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  Speaker 2: so used to these these these the terror that the
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  Speaker 2: FARC would inflict on their respective communities suddenly saw something.
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  Speaker 2: It was a glimmer of hope. And perhaps even more importantly,
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  Speaker 2: as far as I know, not one of the kids
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  Speaker 2: with whom I worked closely ever joined the FARC.
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  Speaker 1: That is a remarkable accomplishment in and of itself. Before
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  Speaker 1: we get to the I guess your recent visit in
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  Speaker 1: what led to kind of this retrospective article that you've written,
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  Speaker 1: and maybe an attempt at answering what difference did it make.
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  Speaker 1: I'm curious when you held those first meetings, what was
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  Speaker 1: the reaction when young people gathered together and not just
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  Speaker 1: maybe learned about the ways of determination by way of
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  Speaker 1: vote and debate and discussion, but they actually sought an action.
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  Speaker 2: Well, it was remarkable. I mean again, it caught fire
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  Speaker 2: in a great way because I very quickly and by
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  Speaker 2: the way, Preston, this is the only reason at work.
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  Speaker 2: It's the only reason, in my opinion, were one of them,
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  Speaker 2: that the FARC never fought back and harmed me or
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  Speaker 2: any of the kids. They immediately seized the entire project
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  Speaker 2: for themselves. And I think that you know those some
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  Speaker 2: all of us here in the United States, were so blessed.
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  Speaker 2: We look at a violent third world country and somehow
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  Speaker 2: think that the kids there are different than the kids
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  Speaker 2: here at home. Well they're not. Give them a chance,
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  Speaker 2: give give them a sense of mission of dignity, as
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  Speaker 2: I said before, and they're just like American kids who
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  Speaker 2: are taken seriously and they really jump on it.
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  Speaker 1: Christine bowing with the Institute of World Politics, talking about
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  Speaker 1: a project she spearheaded as part of a campaign with
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  Speaker 1: her husband that well, what what is the end result
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  Speaker 1: of some playgrounds? Twenty one minutes past the hour, Christine
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  Speaker 1: Bowling is chronicling a story that she wrote for us
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  Speaker 1: on the show today. She wrote the article for Real
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  Speaker 1: Clear Policy, Real Clear Politics, and it says this, we
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  Speaker 1: prompted democracy by building playgrounds in Columbia fifteen years ago.
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  Speaker 1: When I returned, I found lives forever changed. And so
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  Speaker 1: we're talking about that process. And Christine's let's go to
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  Speaker 1: that recent trip, fairly recent trip, and tell us how
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  Speaker 1: you determined what the impact was of those playgrounds.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I ended up meeting a group from the First
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  Speaker 2: and Second villages where I had worked and had over
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  Speaker 2: the years done several projects. They were all adults. This
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  Speaker 2: was fifteen years later, and they all, I met with
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  Speaker 2: about ten former participants. They all went to great lengths
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  Speaker 2: to meet with me number one, which certainly spoke to
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  Speaker 2: But the most important thing was what had happened. Not
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  Speaker 2: only did no one join the FARC. One woman was
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  Speaker 2: so motivated by the democratic process that she ran for
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  Speaker 2: a councilwoman in her village and served as a councilwoman
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  Speaker 2: for two years. A pair of sisters decided that they
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  Speaker 2: could really achieve goals, et cetera, et cetera, and became accountants.
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  Speaker 2: A fourth young gal went to college, which is a
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  Speaker 2: rare thing, and became a lawyer, advocating for the rights
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  Speaker 2: of victims of violence. So that's just an example. And
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  Speaker 2: they also, by the way they had were very skeptical
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  Speaker 2: about the United States of America is as close as
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  Speaker 2: Columbia and US has been in the past, because the
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  Speaker 2: FARC says only bad things about what we Americans stand for.
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  Speaker 2: So they're certainly so so their their minds as to
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  Speaker 2: what it means, what an American is, and that we're
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  Speaker 2: you know that I were not horrible imperialists. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: that's another thing. They got even more interested in the
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  Speaker 2: United States and going online and finding more about it.
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  Speaker 1: What happened to the playground since then?
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  Speaker 2: Well, most of them have gone into a state of
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  Speaker 2: disrepair because I had to stop my I came back
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  Speaker 2: to the United States. But there are a couple that
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  Speaker 2: the kids, as best they can, have kept up by
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  Speaker 2: painting over the years. So even if they're not in
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  Speaker 2: great shape, the symbolism remains.
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  Speaker 1: I would be curious to know. I mean, obviously, those
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  Speaker 1: young people that were impacted by it, they know the
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  Speaker 1: important role it played. Do you think it's about restoring
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  Speaker 1: those playgrounds or is it about doing the process again,
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  Speaker 1: gathering groups together and saying where should we put a
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  Speaker 1: new one?
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely pressed in both of them, and in fact, these kids,
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  Speaker 2: who are now in their early thirties and have a
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  Speaker 2: couple kids their own, they said, if if I were
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  Speaker 2: ever to come back, they would like to teach the
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  Speaker 2: next generation about the meaning of non sibby and the
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  Speaker 2: importance of democracy.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, well, I'm curious what would it cost to
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  Speaker 1: restore those playgrounds?
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  Speaker 2: Oh, jeez, luise a playground a couple thousand bucks, well
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  Speaker 2: maybe more, now maybe three four These were modest wooden playgrounds. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: I'll tell you this. Of over the course of the
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  Speaker 2: five years I built. We did twelve playgrounds, medical days,
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  Speaker 2: you know, marches for peace. Total number of donations I
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  Speaker 2: received three hundred thousand dollars. That's it. So, you know,
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  Speaker 2: a lesson again with a modest amount of US government aid,
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  Speaker 2: if if the you know one can achieve a lot
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  Speaker 2: of great things. And I want that message to come through,
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  Speaker 2: you know again, just in the midst of all the crazy,
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  Speaker 2: silly projects that were highlighted in the press. You know,
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  Speaker 2: American public diplomacy works and it doesn't have to cost
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  Speaker 2: a lot.
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  Speaker 1: I think you and I are going to end up
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  Speaker 1: chatting a little bit more off the air about this project.
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  Speaker 1: We do a we do something every year. We call
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  Speaker 1: it Operation Thanksgiving and Spirit of Christmas, and we're kind
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  Speaker 1: of looking for a project this fall, so maybe you
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  Speaker 1: and I can talk.
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  Speaker 2: I think that'd be fantastic. I've in fact just resurrected
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  Speaker 2: my foundation legally in Colombia, and as I said, the
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  Speaker 2: non SIBY team members are raring to go.
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  Speaker 1: Christine, thanks for the time this morning. We'll be in touch.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you.
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  Speaker 1: Christine bawling with us now when she was able to
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  Speaker 1: document that not one of those kids that took part
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  Speaker 1: in that whole process took became a member of the
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  Speaker 1: Marxist rebel, and some were inspired to do these other things.
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  Speaker 1: I got to thinking, why in the world would we
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  Speaker 1: not we meaning us, you and me? Why would we
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  Speaker 1: not see if we can encourage that, if it would
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  Speaker 1: only take a few thousand dollars to resurrect those playgrounds.
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  Speaker 1: I'm thinking there's a few playgrounds that we might resurrect.
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  Speaker 1: We'll see. Well, I mean, you tell me, what do
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: you think? Send me an email Preston at iHeartRadio dot
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: com twenty minutes past the hour