I used to spend a lot of time in Zimbabwe, where I hung out at a place called Kufunda Village. One of the things I loved most about my time there was watching kids of all ages roam around in big packs. They spent the whole day together, inventing one game after another, amusing themselves while their parents worked, cooked and cleaned up. Sometimes an adult had to step in, but it didn’t matter whose parent it was. No one was sitting at home stuck to the screen or pouting in the yard because they weren’t.

For a moment yesterday, the Old Oak Dojo turned into that scene. We had about 15 kids here, and after the first hour or so of wondering what they’d do without access to computers, ipads or smartphones, they eventually began to play, swinging on the climbing rope, draping themselves over the scaffolding, stomping on rockets and making mounds of mud and dirt.

Cleaning up after them was worth every minute.