Showing Palisades residents how poverty looks was facilitated through the Compassion Experience on the Calvary Church parking lot, October 13-15, following its community service day.
Two semi-trucks were put together and three homes were assembled inside. In this case, participants could choose between following a child in Uganda, the Philippines or the Dominican Republic.
Given an iPod Touch and headphones, visitors entered their selected replica room and listened to a 12-minute narration that told a real story about a child in that country. The idea was to immerse guests in the environment, so they could see and feel the poverty.
In the Uganda story, we learned that Olive’s mother had died of AIDS, and that a resistance army had started burning homes and taking young boys and making them soldiers—the fate of girls was also not so nice. Olive battled tuberculosis, but finally with help from a sponsor, she was pulled out of poverty and able to attend school. She is now a social worker in Georgia.
At the end of the tour, one enters a World Impact Room where guests can view photos and information about children of all ages who are waiting for sponsors. Or, one can go back and view the story of another child in one of the two other countries.
The Compassion Experience allowed kids in this affluent area a chance to see a representation of poverty, in a unique fashion.
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