What an experience!
I had the most amazing experience yesterday. It touched my heart, and I hope, changed me.
I hope it made me into a more empathetic person, one who cares more deeply. Have you ever wondered what would it be like to a child living in poverty? What would it be like to lose both your parents, to HIV/AIDS, and find yourself shunned and ridiculed as a result? To wonder if you too will die of what Africans call “the Big Disease”?
Yesterday, I had a chance to find out. I finally managed to visit the World Vision Experience: Step into Africa. This traveling exhibit is making its way across the country, educating Americans about AIDS in Africa and hopefully, signing up folks like you and me to sponsor children affected by this pandemic.
Volunteers set up what looks like an African shanty town, a jumble of huts with thatch and corrugated tin roofs, dirty curtains, threadbare blankets, in a church gym.
When you begin, you’re handed an iPod Shuffle (the postage stamp sized one) with earphones, so that you can hear the audio portion (um, it’s a very cool “world Vision orange” iPod, but you have to give it back at the end of the exhibit). The audio guides you through the exhibit, in which you learn the story of one of four children. You see the AIDS crisis not through mind-numbing statistics, but through the life of a real child. For 20 to 30 minutes, you are that child.
It really sucks to be that child. In case you wondered.
I was in tears by the end of the experience, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. Seriously.
Some of you will read this and think—wow, that’s cool that she did that. That’s so not why I am writing about it. I want you to do it too. A part of you will resist. Of course. Because who wants to feel sad? That’s okay. Lean into that resistance. Pray about it. We dislike thinking about problems like this, because they are so big, so overwhelming. You don’t want to cry, because if you cry, you’ll realize, you have to do something.
Yeah. You do have to do something. Skipping out on seeing the exhibit doesn’t exempt you. Maybe you think, what on earth could I do? That’s the great thing about this exhibit. At the end, instead of hopelessness, you walk up to a “wall of hope” where you can see photos of children needing sponsors. And that’s something you could do: you could make a difference for one child. Sponsorship runs $35 per month. That’s a little more than $1 per day. You could save your spare change and manage that. Or cut your coffee consumption by two venti Starbucks per week and put the savings toward saving a life.
What can you do? You can join others who’ve decided it is time to say “no.” This is not okay, that children are dying. That a continent is killing itself, mostly with ignorance.
Several years ago, Oprah interviewed U2 lead singer and social activist Bono about his efforts to raise funds and awareness for Africa. He said:
“Our generation will be known for the Internet, the war on terror and how we let an entire continent burst into flames while we stood around with watering cans—or not. I think it’s exciting to be part of a generation that actually says ‘No.’ Now, the world is a smaller place; distance cannot decide who is our neighbor to love. Love thy neighbor. We can’t afford not to. The world is too close.”
I learned a lot by visiting this exhibit. Staggering truths, such as the fact that that prostitutes in Kenya, who turn as many as seven tricks a night at about $2 per, are continuing to unwittingly spread AIDS. They make a little more if they don’t insist on condom use. Good grief. Medicine is needed, care is needed, but for the love of God, education is needed.
And that’s where you come in. God may not be calling you to go to Africa, but I think that if this exhibit is coming to a town near you (click here to check the schedule), God is calling you to see it. And even if you can’t go see it, pray earnestly about sponsoring a child.
And you maybe can’t change a whole culture, one that seems irreparably broken, and in many ways, insane. But you can change the life of one child, for about a dollar a day. And you could change yourself, from someone standing by with a watering can to someone who is willing to give a cup of cold water in Jesus’ name. The question is not will you, but why wouldn’t you?
Posted: August 16th, 2007 under Fun.
Comments: 11
Comments
Comment from Dianne
Time: August 16, 2007, 9:44 am
Recently I’ve been more aware at how much I choose to ignore. It seems like there are so many causes out there and I tend to tune them all out. The plight of the individual child is easy to overlook. The fact that there are so many needs should not be an excuse but it has been.
Last night after Bible study, I was talking with 2 women who were literally weeping over something they heard on the radio - the no. of homeless school children in our metropolitan area. I was just blessed by their compassion and already they were talking about what they can do. Anyways, thanks for sharing your experience. I plan to talk to my husband about what we can and should do.
Comment from Keri
Time: August 16, 2007, 10:02 am
Tuck–welcome to boomer babes, glad you stopped by.
Both of you point out something very important–as tragic as the situation in Africa is, the world has lots of other important problems and causes, many in our backyard. It can feel a bit overwhelming. But the key is to pray and ask for God’s direction, and then, help someone. If every life matters to God, then our helping one person–whether they live next door or on the other side of the planet, is significant.
Comment from Allison Bottke
Time: August 16, 2007, 2:07 pm
Bless you, Keri, for pouring out your heart in this post. I feel you said it best when you advised Tuck and Dianne to pray for direction. My heart aches for the children of Africa - yet my heart also aches for the young ones in our own backyard who go to bed hungry, homeless, and hurting. I grew up in financial poverty, we stood in food lines for powdered milk and blocks of processed cheese. I know what it feels like to want … and the times we had holiday meals or extra clothing, or food baskets - were the times when people reached out to share what they had. Had it not been for people who unselfishly helped us during those years, we would have gone hungry at Christmas and Thanksgiving…we would have continued to wear shoes that cramped our growing little toes. Folks, you CAN make a difference - even if it’s in “just one life.” There is no telling the contribution that “one life” will make to the world.
Comment from Keri
Time: August 16, 2007, 2:19 pm
Allison, thanks so much for sharing your own story. As some of you know, I have a heart for the poor in my own city. No one of us can do it all, meet every need. We each need to pay atttention to where God is calling us to make a difference, but then have the courage to do even small things. If all of us would do even small things, together, we would rock the world!
Comment from Dianne
Time: August 16, 2007, 6:42 pm
You’re absolutely right, Keri. Allison, thanks for sharing from your heart too. You both make a good point, that touching just one life matters to God. Thanks for that challenge.
Comment from Dotsie Bregel
Time: August 17, 2007, 1:44 am
Keri, thanks so much for sharing this. I’d never heard of it, but when I went to the link you offered, I leanred it is coming to one of my favorite chruches only four miles from my home in June, 2008. I’ll be certain not to miss it.
Comment from Keri
Time: August 17, 2007, 2:20 pm
Dotsie,
Cool–I know you’ll be touched by it. One thing I wish I’d done was taken a few friends along–I definitely needed to process some things after, and while the volunteers are very nice, you really want to sit and talk with some girlfriends. So you may want to see if you can bring someone along and experience it together.
Comment from Tracy Ruckman
Time: August 18, 2007, 6:24 pm
Thanks so much for sharing this. It’s coming to Birmingham, so I’ve already put it on my calendar to attend.
I’ve recently read Will & Lisa Samson’s book JUSTICE IN THE BURBS, Being the Hands of Jesus Wherever You Live - it is an encouraging, convicting book about this very subject. This book has affected me so much that over on my blog - Pix-N-Pens - we’re challenging people to go out into their neighborhoods these next two weeks to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Unfortunately, the response has been minimal.
Are we that busy? Apathetic? Uncaring? It really saddens me.
I’ll be praying for this exhibit. May God open eyes, hearts, and pocketbooks as it travels cross-country. Again, thank you for sharing.
Comment from Keri
Time: August 18, 2007, 6:34 pm
Tracy
Post the link to your blog–I’ll forward it on to Lisa and also put a link on my blog, Deep Breathing for the Soul, which is at http://www.keriwyattkent.blogspot.com
I think the busy-ness keeps us distracted. We also don’t believe that our small steps will make any difference. But they do.
I just ordered Justice in the Burbs and plan to review it in my newsletter, etc.
Lisa’s novel Quaker Summer approached these same themes through a fictional story–and she’s a very talented writer!
thanks for your comment!
Comment from Ioannes
Time: October 17, 2007, 8:47 am
Cool.
back to Home
Comment from Tuck, The Rebel Belle
Time: August 16, 2007, 7:00 am
Thanks for sharing your experience with this post Keri. I am currently working with the Katrina evacuees so I resonate with much of what you’re describing.
This is the 1st time I’ve visited the Boomer Babes Rock blog and I love it!!! I just subscribed for more and look forward to the interaction with babes that rock!