Turn on the taps in Burscheid!

Until Martin Kaussen visited it on 25 February, the Bullerbü nursery school in Burscheid run by the Johanniter had little more than a patch of grass and a very basic playground to keep the little ones occupied outdoors. Kaussen, however, who besides being an employee of RWE Power in Cologne is also an enthusiastic handyman, saw the potential for a fantastic water-and-sand play area and promptly set about rallying the support of both parents and staff. The project was part of the RWE Companius winter programme and received funding from RWE Companius.

The mood on the building site was upbeat, despite the overcast weather. The helpers worked perfectly together with each person doing his or her bit. “There was no strict allocation of jobs; we all just helped out wherever help was needed,” explains Kaussen, who has since decided to support four more projects in the RWE Companius winter programme. The concept turned out to be a good one and the helpers made swift progress. Even the children helped out and were assigned a little building site of their own – naturally at a safe distance from all the heavy equipment.

The results of that exhausting, but exhilarating day are impressive. The nursery school grounds now boast a lovely little stream flowing through a series of hollowed-out logs on a bed of gravel.

The idea was to make the children’s time outdoors more fun and to encourage physical play. But there was an educational motive as well. Because the children first have to fetch the water from inside the building, they learn right from the start that water is a precious resource that must not be squandered.