STEP INTO AFRICA

This past week our church hosted the Step Into Africa exhibit; it shares how 12 million African children have been orphaned by Aids. "The World Vision Experience takes you on an unforgettable journey into Africa—and into the AIDS crisis, seen through the eyes of a child."

"Short of getting on an airplane to see the continent for yourself, the exhibit gives you a sense of what it is like to be in a village 'alive with activity, but people say it has the smell of death,' the gentle African voice of the narrator will tell you."

"Step into Africa . . . and into an unforgettable journey that will challenge everything you thought you knew about the AIDS crisis. The 2,500-square-foot walk-through exhibit is fashioned after an African village. Visitors wear headphones and walk in the steps of a child affected by AIDS. At the end, visitors are invited to become a part of the solution through advocacy, prayer, or giving opportunities."

There are four stories of four real children who have been affected by the Aids crisis. When you enter the exhibit, you choose one of the children to follow with headphones telling their personal story.

Babirye - enter the epicenter of AIDS in Africa, where a young girl watches her father die and her mother grow weak—and wonders if she’ll be next.

Emmanuel - face survival in the wild, as a young boy and his brother care for themselves after losing their mother and their home in Uganda.

Kombo - avoid the big trucks and the big disease as they roll past one boy’s home at a truck stop along the “AIDS highway.”

Mathabo - feel the sting of abandonment as one girl faces hunger, assault, and disease—alone in the highlands of Lesotho.

This was a very professional exhibit, not like vacation bible school or anything. We went to the exhibit as a family on Wednesday, and tonight and tomorrow Teen is helping out there.

On a similar note, the Boston Marathon is Monday. It begins in the town of Hopkinton, Massachusetts and ends in Boston. My church, and Mister's workplace, are both in Hopkinton. On Wednesday a contingent of almost 100 people from the city of Marathon, Greece flew into Boston for the 2,500th recognition of the Battle of Marathon. Most of the people in the group will be runners who plan to run the 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to Boston. Our church provided a nice dinner for them Wednesday, and then they got to visit the exhibit.

If you would like more information on the exhibit, click on the first (orange) picture at the top of this post.