Introducing Jr.

Wilson,
You and I have been on four continents in the past couple years and visited several nations, and I have yet to see as tiny a One World Futbol as I saw in Berkely, CA,  Monday afternoon when I visited the One World Play Project headquarters. The dang thing almost fit in my shoe! Well, OK I exaggerate. But I still want to tell you about the visit.

My new, diminutive One World Futbol on the shoe seen 'round the world.

First of all, there's the news about the tiny One World Futbol that I photographed on my shoe in the bathroom of the San Francisco time share after I got back. Not everyone who wants to play with unbreakable One World Futbols is man-size. Some aren't even kid-size. This ball is for the tyke-size.

It  would have been great to have a few of those last November when I was in the Baobob refugee center in Rome, where some of the families were waiting for an evening meal with babes in arms. It's an appropriate addition to the One World Play Project's love arsenal.

The staff at One World Play Project gave it to us when I visited Monday -- "us" including you (on Mount Adams), and Blue (at my condo). And now we got Jr.--that's my name for the little one. (And "junior" is a gender-free term! Jr. will be tagging along with me in San Francisco.

Tim Jahnigen

Now the next thing I want to show you is the proof of how truly resilient these balls are. That's me in the photo below with Lisa Tarver, Co-founder and Chief Giving officer for the One World Play Project. Lisa is also the spouse-in-chief of Tim Jahnigen,Co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer (and visionary for this marvelous ball), pictured at the right. Note that Lisa is holding a ball with a big chunk missing and a whole lot of little bite holes in it. That's what can happen when a big dog with bitey teeth gets to play with one of these things for a year.

Look closely, because this is one of those rare photos that show just how tough a One World Futbol can be. The well chewed ball still has as much bounce as ever.

But get this -- the darned thing is firm, holds its shape, and bounces as if it isn't missing a big chunk of its exterior. If you didn't see the hole, you'd never know. These things take a trouncin' and keep on bouncin'. (I think I said that a long time ago in an earlier blog.) The balls aren't necessarily recommended for pets, but people buy them for their dogs anyway. These things last--and work!--in places where people are kicking rag balls around.

You know, Wilson, there are 195 nations in the world--196, if you count Taiwan as a separate nation. (That's where the balls are made, by the way, with many shipped in 40-foot containers that can hold 5,000 balls.) One World Play Project has sent One World Futbols to 175 of those nations. So far, they have shipped 1.6 million balls. At 30 users per ball, that's 48 million people who didn't have to purchase their entertainment. They were given the ball by strangers like us and our donors.

And something else is happening. Organizations that are distributing the balls are involving girl players in traditional societies where girls were less likely to engage in sports. In my imagination,  I think that, just by creating this endurable ball, One World Play Project is making it possible to shift the paradigm and is contributing to the incremental redefinition of what it means to be female.

Look, Wilson, I know that, you being genderless and all, this "girl" issue  may not mean much to you, but trust me, over time this could be important.

Me, Jr., and the One World Play Project staff.

There's one other person I want to give special mention to in today's dispatch: Marketing Associate Emily Hopcian, the individual who has been instrumental in what we have been able to accomplish. She's my go-to guru. She's standing on my left in the photo above, with me holding Jr,, who has been kissed with a whole bunch of staff autographs. To my right is Lisa Tarver. Other One World Play Project staffers in the photo are, left to right from the top: Luc Schwab, designer; Cameron Maguire, giving and R&D coordinator; Rebecca Perez, director of corporate partnerships; Jenn Hwang, VP marketing and communications; Taylor Veit, marketing assistant, and Neill Duffy, chief catalyst.

From their second floor suite in a Berkeley office building they are sending the power of play all over the world. It's an office sort of like every other office, but the fact that it looks so ordinary makes it so much more extraordinary -- and inspirational.

We can do things, Wilson. We can make a difference.
Love,
Robert