It all started as a father & son project for Wyatt and I. In the afternoons after school the community boys would arrive at thesoccer field by car. Our intern Melissa would be there to coach and referee the soccer matches most days. I would occasionally drive by and see a group of cars proudly parked side by side near the field. It fascinated me to see the materials used by these boys to create such capable cars. Wood pallets, branches, old chairs from the school, broom sticks for axles and of course wheels. The soccer field is at the bottom of a hill so you can imagine these boys love to make their entry with as much speed as they can brave.
Now the bottom of the hill is a T junction so they must turn a hard right near the field to avoid crashing. I had been promising Wyatt a jungle gym project in the back yard but it seems to get bumped on the priority list. So we decided to tackle something a bit easier, a wood go-cart! As the plans developed we thought it would be fun to race other boys. Then we decided to promote the race as a formal event and give away our car as the Grand Prize. Roughly 30 boys raced that day and we had enough cars to share and take their turn.
An event like this builds our credibility in the community and reassures the parents of our love for their kids. The race took place during the school break, but you can imagine the stories that we had in our bible class the next week!
We’ve already started planning next year’s Easter Derby, and how we can get more scrap materials and wheels to the boys.
Photography : Henriette Otto – Official Time Keeper : Marnus Otto – First Aid : Melissa Landis Statistician : Sli Smith Mthembu – Traffic Control : Pieter Mashego – Cheerleaders : Fifi, Bo, Zoe Car Design / Racer : Wyatt Smith
