"Survivor" Challenge Cambodia Style

What happens when you take 9 Cambodian teenagers from Phnom Penh’s inner city slums and plonk them on an almost deserted island? Sat in the ramshackle wooden restaurant in the stunning coastal town of Kep, myself, the teachers, students and director of Aziza schoolhouse excitedly made last minute plans for the “survivor challenge”. Their hair still damp from their first ever swim in the ocean; the students loudly cracked crab and shrimp shells with their teeth, dipping them lavishly into the delicious spicy garlic and lime dressing.

The morning greeted us with bright blue sky and sunshine, a miracle during the peak of the rainy season. The students set off in their teams to the market to stock up on supplies for the island. Trundling along on the back of a motorbike drawn cart, we finally made it to the pier and piled into two long-tail boats.


“Grandma” of the island, greeted us, hair wrapped up in a traditional Kramer, a machete and a pineapple in one hand and a mobile phone in the other, classic! She led us on a short trek through a jungle of coconut trees, which opened up onto a stunning little beach with a few wooden huts, plenty of hammocks and a couple of food shacks. Thoughts of Phnom Penh instantly evaporated.








The students enthusiastically began their first challenge, each team preparing lunch for which they would be judged on taste, presentation and imagination. We were stunned by the plethora of seafood and tropical fruit that was proudly presented to us. If we were in Thailand, I would have thought they had stolen from some 5 star resort buffet down the beach, but somehow they had managed to cook up this incredible feast on this empty beach. God only knows when they learned to cook seafood in the slums, but it was divine.

Bellies full, it was time for the adults to sit back in our hammocks armed with a good novel while the students slaved away building our shelter for the night. What? Who said we were exploiting the youth? We let them swim in the ocean… for 10 minutes before they collected wood for the fire, cooked our dinner (we chose the chicken running around on the sand, and within 5 minutes saw it decapitated, plucked and plopped in a pan of boiling water), and finally, when it was pitch black we went crabbing. It was hilarious to see them grabbing crabs big and small, from tiny crevices in the rocks, fingers bleeding they kept going un-phased until they had a whole bag full. Adults tucked up under our tarp after an exhausting day lounging on the beach, the students stayed up for hours boiling the crabs and eating them whole, shells included under the light of the stars.






By 6am the girls were back in the “kitchen” boiling rice and noodles for breakfast while the rest of us congregated on the beach for a spot of yoga and meditation. Sitting crossed legged listening to the soft sounds of the ocean we all made a blessing to someone that was less fortunate then ourselves sat on this paradise island. I couldn’t help but wonder if the students thought of their friends and family stuck in the slum surrounded by riots as people were being forcibly evicted from their homes.

The various survivor challenges the students pulled off are insignificant in my mind, there was a winner, but of course their team spirit and admirable talents and skills made them all winners. As we drove back to the city through the stunning green rice feilds, the whole van was filled with the sounds of beautiful Khmer folk songs.





We arrived back in Phnom Penh, greeted by black clouds, rain and the smell of garbage. Given the choice, perhaps we would all like to live on a deserted island. These kids have few choices, but they have big dreams, youthful energy and an astounding attitude towards life that might teach all of us in the West, with our obsession for watching dreadful D list celebrities “stuck” on a paradise island, a thing or two!