VIRTUAL AFRICA EXHIBIT AT SAN DIEGO CAMPUSES ALERTS STUDENTS TO AIDS CRISIS
Source: World Vision - USA
World Vision US
Website: http://www.worldvision.org
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San Diego, Nov. 3, 2006 - Thousands of local students and community members are making a virtual visit to an AIDS-affected community in Africa through the eyes of a child at an interactive exhibit hosted at UC San Diego this week and other area campuses this autumn that is opening people's eyes to the global pandemic.
The 2,000-square foot exhibit provides an inside view of the pandemic from the hardest-hit region: sub-Saharan Africa, where about 25.8 million people are now HIV positive and more than 700,000 children younger than 15 were infected last year. San Diego-area students and local residents are urged to walk in the steps of a vulnerable child and then take action against the crisis.
"The nature of the experience is powerful," says Lauren Alevy, a recent college graduate who helped produce the exhibit and is coordinating its tour through the San Diego area. "It allows a personal perspective into real life situations."
Alevy's own visit to Malawi last summer, where she saw the effects of Africa's pandemic firsthand, sparked her activism and involvement in fighting AIDS. The 22-year-old graduate of Chapman College deferred admission to graduate school this year to focus on assisting the community of Nkoma, Malawi, through fundraising and advocacy. She hopes the exhibit's tour will help raise $100,000 and sponsor 2,000 more children.
The exhibit is sponsored by World Vision's Acting on AIDS, a grassroots movement of students at almost 70 college and university campuses, and by Intervarsity Christian Fellowship. A larger version of the exhibit, presented by Christian humanitarian organization World Vision earlier this year at New York City's Grand Central Terminal and at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto, attracted thousands of visitors.
Guided by a personal audio tour, visitors walk through a replica of a village and experience the impact of AIDS through the stories of a child whose life has been affected by the disease: a seven-year-old orphaned girl from Zambia who is caring for her niece; a 13-year-old boy from Uganda who was abducted and forced to join a militant rebel group; or a young mother who fears she may have infected her children with HIV.
"We want this exhibit to show how devastating and far-reaching AIDS has been around the world," says Richard Stearns, president of World Vision U.S. "It has left behind a generation of orphans and vulnerable children. Unlike a hurricane or tsunami, AIDS is a constant, insidious disaster stalking the globe."
On Saturday, a conference designed to mobilize students in the fight against AIDS and extreme poverty worldwide will be held on the UCSD campus. Marilee Pierce Dunker, a San Marcos resident and daughter of World Vision founder Dr. Bob Pierce; and Matt Hammett, pastor of San Diego's Flood Church will be among speakers highlighting the urgency of responding to the crisis.
Acting on AIDS is a program started by Christian college students in 2004 to educate and engage college students throughout North America in the global fight to turn the tide against the disease. It now has chapters on almost 70 campuses. World Vision started its AIDS care and prevention work in 1990 in Rakai, Uganda, and is now working in 97 AIDS-affected communities throughout Africa.
The World Vision AIDS Experience is open to visitors for free, 24-hours a day, from Oct. 30th - Nov. 4th, on Library Walk at the University of California at San Diego. The "impact1" conference will be held Saturday, Nov. 4, from noon - 9 p.m. at UCSD's Price Center. UC San Diego is located in La Jolla, CA.
The exhibit will next open at San Diego State University (November 13-17), La Jolla Presbyterian Church (November 26-30) and the University of San Diego (December 4-8).
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EDITOR'S NOTE: For more information or interviews with impact1 Tent Producer Lauren Alevy or World Vision's Marilee Pierce-Dunker, contact Geraldine Ryerson-Cruz at 202.572.6302 or gryerson@worldvision.org
World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to helping children and their communities worldwide reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty. We serve the world's poor regardless of a person's religion, race, ethnicity or gender. For more information, please visit www.worldvision.org.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
