'Not Sold in Stores'
The Museum of Tolerance Toy Exhibit

Listen to the Morning Edition story.

Kenyan boy with the sailboat he gave to the Christian Children's Fund Photo courtesy: Christian Children's Fund

March 20, 2001 - It started with a sailboat made from a discarded sandal.

Each of the toys on display at the Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles emerged from the creative minds of children living in countries beset by poverty, war or natural disaster.

Christian Children's Fund workers in 30 nations collected dozens of examples of ingenuity after the group's president spotted a Kenyan fisherman's son playing with a boat he'd made from a worn-out flip-flop. A sharp stick served as a mast and a plastic bag provided the sail.

John Schultz suspected children in the world of plenty might learn much from viewing the impromptu playthings of their less fortunate counterparts.

Schultz says the exhibit tells more about what children living in poverty do have -- namely imagination and inspiration -- than what they don't.