On January 28th, after a heavy rain, Joy Valley once again welcomed the “little warriors” of the crazy primitive people. Everyone stepped on the water and sang, playing and learning, which was a great pleasure.
Hiking into the valley and enjoying nature
Due to experiencing a rain, there were inevitably many muddy puddles on the way into the valley on foot. However, the children were extremely excited, wearing small rain boots and stepping into the puddles. The splashing water and mud dots became the source of everyone’s laughter.
Build a shelter
Under the guidance of the mentor, everyone used bamboo, hay, and natural bark as bound vines to complete the construction of the shelter. This involves various knowledge such as mechanics, architecture, materials, and space size. Everyone worked, learned, and discussed while spending valuable time.
First experience of drilling wood to start a fire
Fire played an important role in primitive society, as cooking food, heating, and farming all relied on it. Drilling wood to start a fire is one of the most primitive ways of starting a fire. A natural tutor takes everyone to the foot of a century old tree and guides children to find flammable materials such as dry branches, bark, and grass on damp and rainy days, simulating the primitive way of drilling wood to start a fire.
The humid rainy day prevented the experiment from being completed smoothly, but even a gentle wisp of smoke was enough to excite the children. Everyone also reached out to touch the wood used to make the fire, feeling the temperature generated after friction.
Firewood lunch, delicious cooking
Lunch time is approaching, and the children come to the stove to wash, cook, and stir fry all the dishes themselves. They cook delicious dishes with their own hands and taste even sweeter. Eating three large bowls of rice in one breath is their respect and praise for the food!
Mentor’s words
Today seems to be cold, but the children’s participations were just amazing.
We had some crazy times walking on puddles and muddy road. Some kids even stomped on the puddles and made a big splash.
Fishing is one of the kid’s favorites, however, due to the cold weather, there aren’t many fishes around. However, the boys were able to catch a little shrimp. Guess who?
While drizzling in the forest, we set off to look for some dry leaves and woods to start a fire in the forest. It was challenging, and we were still manage to find some hidden in the tree truck and on the side of the hill. Thank you to Coach Long to teach us the skills.
We learn how to start a fire using the most tradition way. We almost made it, sadly only manage to see some smoke, as the wood was a little damp, due to the coldness and humidity.
Next, we split onto group to make lunch. Cutting, chopping, washing, start fire…. 3 kids did BBQ and 2 did frying eggs. Our Lunch was SO DELICIOUS!!! Some kids even had 2 to 3 refills.
After lunch we play a game. The kids need to walk on the rock to pick up the egg. The fastest time recorded is 6 second. Guess who?
Finally, our final task was to build a straw house. Firstly, Coach Long, gave us a tutorial and history of how primitives build different types of house, and then, off we go to start sourcing for materials to build our straw house. The children TEAM WORK is just amazing. The Children DID IT! WELL DONE BOYS! SO PROUD!
