I knew that an individual would begin with a number of bands, wearing them like bangles, and that they would give two bands away to someone they witnessed being kind to someone else. (Although I began with a focus on sportsmanship I quickly realized that any gadget I created to reward sportsmanship could be applied in a much broader context, so I began to think much bigger, in terms of community - knowing that we could customize the project for sport.) The person receiving those two bands could keep one, and pass the other along to someone else they witnessed being kind. Then I realized it would be really neat if every single band had a unique number so it could be tracked on a live interactive map. We could ALL witness the ripple effects of kindness as our bands traveled through community and around the world.
The name of the project came to me during a workshop I was leading for sport administrators. I was explaining how important it is for members of a group or organization to define their understanding of certain words and concepts (character, community, citizenship, team....) in order to minimize misunderstandings and conflict. I was using the word random as an example because it is such a common slang word for youth these days. Random means without definite aim, reason or purpose. So why, I asked the group, do we celebrate random acts of kindness? And as the words came out of mouth I knew the name of our project would become Deliberate Acts of Kindness, and our bands would become dakbands.
My next post will discuss in greater detail my intention regarding the choice of 'Deliberate'.
Again, please don't forget to go to our first post and leave a comment so you have the opportunity to win some dakbands!
Please go to our trak your dak page on our website and check out band #19754.
1 comment:
I love this idea! I found your site through Darcy, who did my blog makeover a while back. She's awesome!
Your concept is just fabulous though. Love the DAK bands.
Post a Comment