THE PADDY-BUDDY BENCH / El regreso de Paddy -Julius / JUNTOS MEJOR ,GENIOS!

Este verano pasado celebramos en el mes de julio nuestro proyecto educativo de inglés y cultura internacional para alumnos de 9 a 15 años en el colegio de Ballydehob un pequeño pero precioso y tranquilo pueblo de la costa suroeste de Irlanda donde siempre parece uno sentirse libre.

Allí entre otras cosas descubrí dentro de la magia que ofrecía el colegio un curioso y colorido banco en el patio de recreo llamado Buddy - Bench , conseguí averiguar su finalidad que no era otra que ser el banco de la amistad y el compañerismo ,sirviendo de punto de encuentro para los alumnos que por algún motivo estaban tristes y con la moral baja y en consecuencia escondidos en la oscuridad de su problema aislados del resto,
sus compañeros automáticamente al ver a alguien allí sentado sabrían que esa era la señal de que su compañero necesitaba ayuda en forma de compañía por lo que se sentarían con él para escuchar le y animarle a unirse al resto para jugar o charlar .

Pensando en los tiempos que corren en los que la falta de autoestima hace que gente con estupendos valores los deje en el anonimato y piensen que no tienen nada que aportar, este invento me pareció como una medicina mágica con poderes curativos milagrosos sin contraindicaciones, sería como la llave de un jardín secreto donde recuperar a la gente que por momentos se encuentre perdida en este difícil mundo.

De repente la idea de este banco me transporto a mi infancia y aquel 'foso de arena ' del patio de colegio donde cualquier cosa podía ocurrir jugando porque jugar no es solo algo que hacemos

como parte de nuestra vida si no que, es vida, estableciendo un paralelismo entre ambos y más cuando descubrí el ' manifiesto del foso de arena ' de Angela Maiers* ya que proyectan unos ideales tan bonitos como parejos.

Entonces, decidí exportar un poco de esa medicina a España, y a mi ciudad y ¿cómo no ofrecerla en primer lugar a los genios reconocidos y a los que no lo son de nuestra escuela? Bueno, pues pensado y hecho, aquí estamos, aunque nuestra medicina viene con una formula mejorada y mágica gracias a nuestra hechicera Irene, que añade un punto de diversión y compañerismo imprescindible, que quizás hace perder ese toque de rincón de la tristeza pasando a ser el de la búsqueda de la autoestima a través de la diversión con la necesidad de estar unidos.

Deciros que para mi es una alegría, y tengo una ilusión enorme en empezar a mover de un lado a otro, arriba y abajo esta medicina y así sacar a estos genios que todavía no se han descubierto, ¡ah! por cierto, el encargado de traernos este invento a nuestro país, no ha podido ser otro que nuestro gran amigo Paddy-Julius que regresa a España dispuesto a ser "El duende descubre genios " con su Paddy-Buddy Bench.

Last July, we carried out our educative and international culture English project aimed to students aged between 9 and 15 years old in Ballydehob school (a beautiful small village, where anyone can always feel free, situated in the Southwest coast of Ireland).

I discovered there, among other things, a colourful and curious bench in the playground called Buddy-Bench. I found out what this bench was for, the aim of this was to turn this into the friendship and comradeship bench. It was for letting students who were sad, demoralized and hidden in themselves to meet other students. When students saw another student sitting on this bench, they knew that that student was asking for some help. Automatically, these would go to him/her, sat down next to him/her and just listen to him/her, cheer him/her up and encourage him/her to play or talk with the rest of the kids.

Thinking about the current days we are living, where the lack of self-steem makes people with great values remains in the anonymous and think that they have nothing to contribute. I found in this bench a magical medicine with miraculous curative powers with no counter-indications. It would be like the key of a secret garden where you can get back with people who are lost in this difficult world.

Suddenly, the idea of this bench brought me back to my childhood and to that “sandbox” in the school playground where anything could happen while playing. Playing is not the only thing we do as part of our life, indeed, it is our life, establishing a parallelism between both and even more when I discovered "the Sandbox Manifesto" by Angela Maiers* which shows both positive and similar ideals.

That was the moment when I decided to bring a little bit of this medicine to Spain, to my city and why don´t offer it, first, to the recognized genius and then, to the ones who are not in our school? Well,once it was thought and done, here we are, although our medicine comes with an improved and magical formula thanks to our wizard Irene, who adds a fun touch and an essential comradeship. This may lead to the loss of that corner of the sadness and to the birth of this self-steem searching tool through joy with the need of being together.

I would like to say that it is a pleasure for me and I am very glad to start this new medicine and spread it from one side to the other. The aim is to let people know that they are great genius even though they do not know it yet. One more thing, the person in charge of bringing this invention to our country is, obviously,our friend Paddy Julius. He comes back to Spain and he is ready to be “the leprechaun who discovers genius” with his Paddy-Buddy Bench.

Julio Morales

LiffeyGroup Dream-Director

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* The Sandbox Manifesto by Angela Maiers

1. Sharing is Caring. Those who share more, care more, and give with their full heart, find success.

2. Messy is Good. Befriend it. Embrace the opportunity to get dirty, to lose yourself. There is freedom and beauty in messiness.

3. Imagination is your greatest asset. Dream big and dream bold. Anything is possible, but you have to be brave enough to believe this is true.

4. Sand is for filling buckets. It is not for throwing. Throwing sand not only hurts people, it also wastes your playtime.

5. Hugs help and smile always matter. Never underestimate the power of these simple acts of human kindness. They define you. Love is the killer app.

6.Take it to the community. Even when having fun, one must prepare for problems to arise. When they do, turn to your community. There will always be someone in your midst that will help you through it, see it in a new way, and find a way to make it work.

7. The community means both friends and strangers. Strangers are friends you haven’t yet had enough time to play with. Remember what Aristotle said: one hour of play tells you more about an individual than many hours of intellectual conversation. Find a stranger, play with him or her, and see a new friend emerge.

8. You have one job — be remarkable. Nothing less. Do what you love, do it well, do it in the way no one else can or has the courage to do. You are your own genius, and the world needs your contribution. The future belongs to the awesome.

9. You are the master of the fate and the captain of your soul.

Whether you’re new or a seasoned professional, the chance of success is equal. Your habits and character matter, and the only

limitations are the ones you set for yourself. To win, you need only defeat your doubt.

10. Play is the work. If we honor the tools and the rules, and most importantly, honor one another, there is nothing we can’t accomplish.

I invite and challenge you to play on purpose. Consider each of these tenets.

Live the manifesto as these kids in the sandbox do. Play is the work. We work better, we play stronger, and we dream bigger when we know we this.