Pippi Power in Gävle, Sweden
In one of Gävle’s districts, very few of the children had access to meaningful leisure activities. That was when Save the Children felt that something needed to be done. Several of the children had not been in Sweden for that long and it was especially needed for the girls in the area, who had very little or no leisure activities at all after school. This is why “Pippi Power” was initiated just over a year ago.
Now Pippi Power is held every Thursday and sometimes up to 15 to 20 girls participate. The girls gather after school and together with the activity leaders they come up with different activities – it can be anything from playing football, volleyball or trying out different sports.
First, the municipality came in and helped with financing and then Pippi of Today came and made it possible for Pippi Power to continue. One of the leaders is Hanan Hussein, who also has experience of coming to Sweden from another country. Hanan has been involved from the start.
“I have been here for almost a year as a leader. It’s great fun to meet these kids every Thursday. We do different activities and we always have “fika”. And then we talk about meaningful leisure and what it means for them”, says Hanan.
“There are many of these girls who don’t even know of the concept “leisure activities”, so it is very important for the girls with these gatherings. We show that they have the freedom to do things outside of school, to swim, to do other activities”, she continues.
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”The best thing is that we are only girls who are here! Because if the guys are here then you can not talk and say everything you want…”
Laura* is one of all the girls who usually join Pippi Power at Thursdays. What does she think is the best about Pippi Power?
“The best thing is that we are only girls who are here! Because if the guys are here then you can not talk and say everything you want…”
* Name has been changed.
