African Bush Marathon

Today wasn't just any ordinary marathon, it was a marathon based on team building, leadership and service. We had a morning full of activities that emphasized teamwork, listening skills and taking charge when needed.  We started off with a few rounds of tug of war which stirred up some fun competition. From there we continued on to different challenges that weren't so much about competition, but were for learning how to strategize on the spot, think outside the box and trust one another.  For example, one challenge included five tires, largest on the bottom to smallest on top, stacked around one pole. There were two other empty poles and they could only move one tire at a time. The students had to figure out how to move all the tires to another pole without putting a larger tire on top of a smaller one, only utilizing the three poles. Much of the challenge came when they started too quickly without proper strategy. When the team that finished first discovered the other team still struggling, they offered them some tips and motivation and eventually all of them figured it out. There were also some fun challenges involving blindfolds and a lot of patience as they were guided by a leader through an obstacle course as well as solving a problem with ropes.

Our team based marathon continued in to the afternoon by going out to do some service work.  In the classroom they are learning different environmental issues related to water and land management, today they were able to get to work in the field mitigating some of these problems. They spent time creating gabions that slow down the flow of water, which not only slows erosion but builds strong soil as more water has a chance to sink into the ground. They also laid down rocks on top of brush, a technique called brush packing, another form of erosion management.

Although the natural instinct was winning, Mr. Obi made sure to introduce the Six Thinking Hats role-playing model by Edward de Bono. A model serving as a problem solving or brainstorming technique that includes all perspectives to be able to find solutions.  After all, winning the marathon wasn't the objective, coming together to realize solutions made everyone a winner.