“Do the people think that they will be left to say, ‘We believe,’ and they will not be tried?” (Quran 29:2)
The first half of the assault course begins here. It is muddy, wet and physically hard, and the mums carry their rucksacks throughout. This is where the group finds out what it can do.
| When | Where | The heart of it |
|---|---|---|
| 10:15am to 12:00pm | The assault course | Mud, water and barriers, with a rucksack on your back |
Arriving at the course
The mums arrive tired, with the walk in their legs. The course staff welcome them and show them the toilets and the meeting point. Allow a short rest, but not enough to recover fully.
The venue’s instructors give a safety briefing. It should be clear and brief, and it should be given to the mums as one adult to another. Cover the route, the hazards, the stop rules and the two signals.
A staggered start
Start the groups a few minutes apart. It gives each group space on the obstacles, lets instructors give each one proper attention, and adds a friendly edge of competition.
If you wish to time the groups, stop the clock when the last member of the group crosses the finish. It rewards a group that stays together, and nobody is hurried past a friend. Timing is optional.
Carrying the rucksack
The rucksack is not a prop. It is everything the mum has, and she carries it all the way. Inside, sealed in bin bags, is a dry change of clothes, the most precious thing she owns today.
If a rucksack is genuinely unsafe on a particular obstacle, a mum may hand it to a teammate for that obstacle only. Nobody struggles alone.
The obstacles
The venue’s course will have its own obstacles. These examples show how each can echo a displaced person’s journey. Adapt the names to your course.
| Obstacle | What it echoes | A prompt for the guide |
|---|---|---|
| “Borderlands”: muddy ditches | Crossing rough ground to avoid being seen | What does it cost to cross ground like this carrying a child and everything you own? |
| “Safe routes”: streams and rivers | Following water for direction and cover | Rivers have cost many refugees their lives. Here the water is shallow and supervised. |
| “Border fences”: tyre walls and nets | Barriers that cannot be avoided | Every fence is another delay, and none of them is the last. |
| “Sniper Avenue”: belly crawl | Moving low through dangerous ground | Staying low is not a choice here. It is survival. |
Guides do not need to narrate every obstacle. The context should simply be present, and the tone should be serious. These are not just physical challenges. They are metaphors made real.
Handle with care. Avoid naming real conflicts, so that nobody who has lived through one feels singled out. If a name such as “Sniper Avenue” would be too much for your group, rename it. Keep a quiet space and a guide on hand.
A real course
The course is the real course. Guides and instructors encourage honestly, and they do not soften it. They step in when they see real signs of harm, and when a mum signals. The signals are always there.
A mum may use “Pass” on any obstacle, and nobody will comment. She steps round it and rejoins at the next. Using it is her choice, not a failure.
Reflection during the course
As the course goes on, mums may feel distress about the mud, a ruined abaya, the cold or their tiredness. That is not a problem. It is the point.
When a mum mourns a muddy garment, that feeling is a doorway. Refugees often leave with far less notice than this, losing not a favourite abaya but entire homes and lives. Guides can open a gentle conversation.
A few prompts:
- How does it feel to care about a piece of clothing right now? What does that tell us about losing everything?
- What has kept you going so far?
- You chose this, with people you trust, knowing it ends. What is it like to imagine this with no choice and no known end?
Safety note. Wet clothing, mud and tiredness make slips more likely. Instructors check each obstacle before each group, and a first aider is always within reach. Stop or slow down at once if anyone is injured, shaking, very pale or breathless, or if the weather turns unsafe.
Reflection questions
At the end of this section, you might ask:
- What was the hardest moment, and what helped?
- What did you notice about the women next to you?
- What are you surprised that you could do?
Hungry and muddy, the group reaches the middle of the day.