Introduction: „Babláblabda”
Bean-footbag: the game of the Little Prince Life-strategy

It’s a game of the poor. Only a little piece of linen and some thread is needed to create it, it can be filled with material which is at hand and it’s easy to repair. Even the preparation of the footbag is a game, a handicraft time with children or friends. It realizes the substance of the Little Prince Life-strategy: it creates a lot of fun community and skilfulness while being only a very little burden on the Earth. It’s a useful nice and simple message from the BOCS Foundation. It’s material doesen’t become rubbish. At the same time it’s also a game of the wealthy who appreciate skillfulness more than money. There is also a footbag world championship, see: http://worldfootbag.com . The Bocs Bean-footbag suits the standard, and the word Babláblabda is a good tongue-twister game, especially for foreigner players :)

Directions for making the footbag:

Fit the end of one of the sponge-finger shaped piece of linen to the waist of the other one. Stitch together half centimeter around the edge from the reverse side of the cloth. When only a little part is left, turn the nearly finished ball inside out to see the pattern. Fill the ball loosely with some kind of seed or little pebbles. Finally sew in the remaining little hole. Now the foot-juggling can begin :) (with three or four ball it’s also possible to juggle with hands :) )

You can easily jump about with a little ecological footprint

It’s not easy to play in big loose boots especially not with a footbag. The picture on one of the sides of the footbag refers to the present condition of the disastrously overburdened Earth (with military preparations, unreasonable producing-consuming-polluting, and hundreds of billions of unvanted conceptions). The other side refers to a positive vision of the future, in which the human civilisation can be balanced with the nature. The footbag reminds the rich of the poor, and the poor of the ecological footprint.

„Tell me, and I forget. Show me, and I remember. But let me do, and I understand.” (Confucius)

Sewing the footbag and playing with it are both a community creating practice in the theme of international development and ecological footprint.

Support for the schooling of poor tribal girls in India

Since 1977 we support a scool-network located in the state Gujarat in India. It’s director Cedric Prakash SJ has already visited us 6 times since 1987. In 1995 he received the highest civil appreciation, the Kabir Purashkar Prize from the President of India. In 2006 he received the Chevalier de la ”Legion de’Honneur” avard (Knight of the Legion of Honour). The rights, education, employment and family planning possibilities of women are key issues in the present global crisis. India is one of the most densely populated and overburdened areas of the world and soon it will become the most populous country. One of the most effective way to act for the future generations is to support the schooling of poor girls in India.

Geographical place: Gujarat (India)

Author: Simonyi, Gyula

Translator: Simonyi, Katalin

Group, movement, tendency (wherefrom it comes from): Bocs Foundation

Age-group: young people, children, teenagers

Target audience: artists, movement volunteers, teachers, trainers, buyers

Possible usage (method, occasion): stand, camp, nature school