My passion about play led me to spontaneously film a one-minute segment on the streets of Dakar during the summer of 2010. The first half features three girls playing a jump rope-style game; during the second half, I incorporate my inescapable, abiding interest in gender by asking my male coworker Adama about girls’ and boys’ games.
In terms of my digital portfolio, my personal interests inspired me, once again and just as unwittingly, to create multiple projects on the same theme: supporting children’s play. Both pieces argue for giving youths the tools to author their own destinies, as opposed to applying tools to them for purposes of surveillance or superficial measurement. The subject of meaningful play is embedded in both; whereas some adults believe that structured programs should be imposed upon youth, I believe (and quality research maintains) that youths’ most meaningful learning stems from their self-directed exploration.