Report Oasis Encounter 30 August 2017

The trip began with rain but we were all in good mood as we waited for the vehicles that will take us to two attractions in Vaals, a little town close to the border between Netherlands and Germany. Here Sr. Claudia told us how appalling the situation was around World War II, and how the situation created animosity between the Germans and Dutch. Now the wounds are healing and both sides are beginning to build new friendships.

After this introduction, we began our first exposure in glass factory. Here a single man- call him glass-artist - uses simple tools to make a variety of glass products such as bowls, vases, and plates. He demonstrated the making of plate and a drinking glass for all to see. It was truly an amazing experience for many who never saw this before.

Satisfied with this experience, we drove further to “Paradijsvoegels” a small shepherds cottage. Here we were introduced to one Mr. Paul who owns a flock of sheep and as large farm with a lot of fruit trees. The interesting thing about the shepherd is that he has three dogs that are trained to drive the sheep in and out of the pen. We had the unique privilege of watching a fantastic show of the sheep performing their duty by just listening to their master's voice accompanied by a whistle and doing what the farmer wants with the sheep. They take the sheep out into the field and bring them back whenever the farmer wants. One of the those dogs is capable of driving all the sheep in the field into the pen with precision.

After lunch, the group was then introduced to a game which was quite new to most of us. The game is played using a wooden-shoe stick. We were divided into eight groups of four, each person with a wooden-shoe stick and each group with one ball. The game is played by hitting the ball towards a target where the ball has to fall into a hole just like golf. There were several of these targets and each group had to complete the game as fast as possible by hitting the ball into these targets. The group with fewer number of strikes at the ball towards the targets wins the game. This was characterized by a lot of fun and jubilation.

It was then time to display our skills in art work. Each participant was given a pair of little wooden shoes, and with numerous types of paint, each was to express him/herself by decorating the wooden shoes in a way that will make them as beautiful as possible. We then had a relaxing time until dinner- a special cuisine of bread, a variety of salads, fried fish and pork.

This was more than enough a little farm house could provide for a large group of about 40 people. So we left the place at 18:00 with fun memories of "paradijsvoegels". Thanks to Mr. Paul for his beautiful and inspiring little farm house. We could not have been happier than this.

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