An Obstacle Race at Little Hearts

October 15th was the Commemoration Day of King Father Norodom Sihanouk here in Cambodia, so the children had the day off from school. As we always do on such holidays, we thought of something exciting and unusual to keep the kids busy and engaged. This time, it was a challenging obstacle race full of mud, sweat and tears, but also camaraderie and achievement. In other words, real Rambo stuff!

That morning, Billy (our handyman), Martini (our gardener) and Sothon (a former resident), with the assistance of five of the older boys, ideated and built an elaborate race course on our campus, while the other children were busy with the usual holiday chores of cleaning lockers, bathrooms and bedrooms.

The first two stations of the course were set up in the front garden: a slimy mud crawl, in which players must slither through pools of mud on their bellies without touching the low-slung nets above them; and the balance rope, where each participant must walk on a tightrope while holding a long staff for equilibrium. 

The next three challenges were in the football field: skipping rope on a slippery surface; tire running through a line of old car tires without tripping on them; and a simple hurdle race over multiple obstacles. Then, in the outer hallway along the classrooms, there was the human wheelbarrow test, in which pairs of players had to travel the length of the hallway with one player playing the wheelbarrow (i.e. walking on his hands) and his partner holding up his feet. 

The final two stations were lined up in the volleyball court at the back of the campus: an old-fashioned hopscotch game and the devilish bamboo swing, in which players hopping in rice sacks must hurry through a forest of swinging bamboo poles without being struck (if they were smacked, they’d have to start over).

In the afternoon, the race began. The children were divided into four teams of six or seven players each: the Never Give Up Gang, with Charlie as their leader; the Dream Team, headed by Dalin; the Unstoppable Unit, with Michael as captain; and the Ninja Warriors, led by Ben. The teams received their instructions for each stage in the race. Two teams would race simultaneously, with a timer starting as soon as the referee gave the signal. The goal was for each member of the team to reach the end of the course (the mango tree at the very back of the compound) in order to allow the next member of his or her team to start. The last team member to finish the race would collect the team’s flag stuck on the mango tree, thus stopping the clock and recording the team’s overall time. Staff members were assigned to each station to check that the teams were following the rules carefully. Roxanne manned the skipping rope and tire run stations, for example, while Teacher Zal oversaw the challenges in the volleyball area (hopscotch and bamboo swing).

The winning team – Never Give Up Gang – received a bagful of forbidden foods (candy, chips and chocolates) while the others received consolation prizes, though in the end all the goodies were shared and savoured together. Everyone tried their best and, more importantly, enjoyed the game enormously.

After that, as always, there was a massive clean-up operation to undertake, with everyone pitching in. Then everyone was off to the showers! It was an exhilarating (if somewhat mucky) event that will live long in the kids’ memories. Thank you to all the kids for participating so enthusiastically, and especially to all the staff for organizing the game and working so hard to turn it into a successful event.

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