Ganhaizi is a remote village of Miao ethnic minority in China with a strong sports playing tradition. Villagers organize festival activities including bull fighting, foot racing, dancing, tug of war and rubber gun shooting game. The organization Habitat for Humanity plans on benefiting the health and well-being of the villagers by introducing a simple physical education program - a public sports field. The sports field consists of two components. The villagers of Ganhaizi participates regularly in basketball competitions with other villagers from surrounding areas, and their male basketball team recently placed first, while their female basketball team placed second in the regional tournament. However, the villagers do not have proper basketball courts to practice on. In the Yunnan province, ethnic minority villages have few adequate basketball courts. The village basketball teams share a small and worn out basket ball court with their local primary school. Therefore, the first component of the program involves the construction of an outdoor basketball court with bleacher seats to provide the community an access to a decent, public, basketball court. The other part of the project is an addition of smaller scale recreational sports equipment to the basketball court, which will serve as a place where elderly people and young children can exercise daily and gather for entertainment. By utilizing the villagers collective-own public land, the program goals are to provide the villagers the opportunities to improve their health and fitness, a communal space to foster local cultures, and better quality sports facilities that are readily available in urban areas. The basketball courts will have several important functions for the villagers, it serves as: a central venue for physical activities and competition; a central venue for gathering; a central location to host festivals; a place for entertainment.

For more information:
http://gamechangers.architectureforhumanity.org/proposals/games_in_lost_...

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