Tjeko is a social profit organization that offers children the opportunity to just be children. We bring sport, play and relaxation to children who almost have no free time. Playing is essential for the healthy development of children: we are ambassadors that promote the importance of more time and space to play in developing countries.
Is playing really that important? Shouldn’t other needs like having access to clean drinking water and medical care have priority? Fortunately there are great organizations actively working to promote and fulfill in these needs, however fulfilling a in a child’s need to play is also of great importance and shouldn’t be mislooked. We consulted an expert, the Dutch developmental psychologist Steven Pont: ‘Play stimulates the cognitive, physical, socio-emotional and language development more than any other activity. Children who play a lot are therefore more creative, less stressed, less anxious, more language-proficient and more social. […] So playing is not just a simple something. Playing unleashes something within a child. Children will learn better, be more creative and innovative, dare more, and grow into healthier adults if we give them the opportunity to play.