• Oerlinghausen: A sack race and a balloon-nose race were events at the "fun olympics" at the Naturfreundehaus in Oerlinghausen. The olympics are part of a summer camp hosted by the "Vereinte Kirche Gottes" for 20 children ages 6 to 13 years old.

The children are from four countries: the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland. "We were already here last year with a group at the Naturfreundehaus. The children can play here outdoors, and the hostel is very beautiful and its hosts are very nice and helpful," reports coordinator Jesmina Allaoua. She organized the trip from Bonn for the children, and she found the Naturfreundehaus on the southern side of the "Tönsberg" after a two month search of the Internet. The hostel is ideal for the summer camp. "Many of the children have forgotten how to play outside. At first they don't know what to do," according to Jesmina Allaoua.

Nine volunteer staff members from Belgium, the Netherlands, the U.S.A. and Germany look after the group for five days. All volunteers speak several languages, so there aren't any communication problems. The children also learn new languages through the contact with children of other nationalities. "Our goal is to teach Christian values via games and adventure," Paul Kieffer said, camp director from the U.S.A.

Picture caption: The group was a team at the fun olympics (from left): Benjamin Betschart (12) from Switzerland, Leon Hackl (6), Daniel Pfeiffer (11), Simon-Tim Hackl (8), Tabea Fahrner (11), Emma Dekker (5) from the Netherlands and Simona Habicht (10).

(Want to see the original article in pdf-format? You can find it under the headline Spaß-Olympiade in der freien Natur – it is at the bottom of the page.)

• Paul Kieffer, August 13, 2005