Games That Will Never Make It To The Olympics

This blog is part of a series organized by The Huffington Post and the NGO alliance InterAction around the London 2012 Olympics.

Every two years, the world waits in anticipation for the Olympic Games. It is the height of athleticism, competition, and pride in one's country. For athletes that compete in the games -- this event can be the realization of dreams or the disappointment of a lifetime.

All of this fanfare, built around games.

While the Olympics represent the upper echelon of games, for many, games are simply a way to pass the time, connect with others and have fun. The Olympics utilize the best in facilities and technology, but many games for people in developing nations involve found objects, a heavy dose of creativity and ingenuity. These games will never make it to the Olympics -- and that's okay. The joy they bring to their participants is worth more than a gold medal.

CHECK OUT GAMES FROM AROUND THE WORLD:

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• Darfur

  In the Dereig refugee camp in Darfur, this little boy has found a way to have fun using a homemade hoop.

• India

  Children in India spend their recess playing "kabaddi"- a type of tag game.

• Vietnam

  In between the end of the school day and starting homework, 12 year old Tri and friends playing marbles in the Quang Ngai province of Vietnam.

• Tanzania

  In Tanzania, Paulina and her brother Lameck have made a game by digging small holes in the ground and moving rocks from space to space.

• Zambia

  Maggie, a World Vision sponsored child in Zambia, jumps high in the air as she and her friends play a game known as ìWiderî.

• Zambia

  Moussa, an eleven year old boy in Zambia, skips and leaps into the air just for the fun of it.

• Ghana

  In Ghana, a group of children make chores seem a little less like work by joking as they walk several miles to fetch water from a pond near their village.

 

Comments

[fredgladys]

08:55 PM on 08/01/2012

Back in the day I remember playing, and trading marbles, great fun.

[amberwaves8427]

08:00 AM on 07/31/2012

This is why we have so many fat kids in america.....you dont see alot of kids still jumping in the air just for fun!

[season555]

12:00 AM on 08/01/2012

maybe it is the culture or maybe it is the parents, it is something, also where ever American fast food restaurants are moving in the kids are getting fatter.

[Andy Shick]

02:16 AM on 07/31/2012

I'm waiting for alpine sliding. The bobsledding of the Summer Olympics.

[lhoffman5]

10:06 PM on 07/30/2012

Did anyone happen to notice that all of the games that will never make it to the Olympics are all from destitute areas of Africa? Or am I just being silly?

[Uncommoner]

03:30 AM on 07/31/2012

I don't think competitive shopping mall consumerism photographs as well.

[lhoffman5]

08:54 AM on 07/31/2012

:I) l o l

[Michele Bennington]

11:16 PM on 07/29/2012

The gentrification of poverty...

[Robin Wojahn Brooke]

06:16 PM on 07/26/2012

Awesome reminder Lindsey!!!