A trip through an AIDS-ravaged African village, in Lodi

Dayna Panella of Lodi waits to get her "results" in the health clinic Thursday morning. An African village has been created in the gymnasium of the Lodi Baptist Church. (Jennifer M. Howell/News-Sentinel)

A trip through an AIDS-ravaged African village, in Lodi

By Ross Farrow
News-Sentinel Staff Writer

Friday, February 29, 2008 7:01 AM PST

Comments (1 comment(s))

The gymnasium at Lodi's First Baptist Church has been transformed into four African villages where families are stricken with AIDS.

The exhibit, organized by the Christian humanitarian organization World Vision, brings people into an African village and tells the story of a child through his or her own words.

"It was very moving," Kiley Bliss, of Lodi, said after walking through the exhibit on Thursday's opening day. "It gets you out of your own little world."

The exhibit, called "Step into Africa," continues through Monday. The community is invited.

The gym consists of about 3,000 square feet of wooden walls and straw roofs depicting the environment of a remote African village, including a poverty-stricken family's house.

The consistent message in the exhibit is that many African families not only live in poverty, but many of them get AIDS through unprotected sex, rape or by other means.

In the small southern African country of Lesotho, for example, 56,000 children have lost both their parents to AIDS, according to World Vision.

"It was pretty intense," said John Alvarez, of Woodbridge, a volunteer from First Baptist. "We have so much in America — so much — and they have so little."

Alvarez said that Americans take grocery shopping, medical care and clean water for granted. Through the World Vision exhibit, he said, you learn how lucky you are.

When you enter the gymnasium, you will follow the life of one of four African children. If you come with a spouse or friend, that person will observe the life of a different child.

"Take a few deep breaths right now," the voice in the headphones says. "I'm going to ask you to become a child."

'Step into Africa' at a glance

When: 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. today and Monday; 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday; 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.
Where: First Baptist Church, 267 N. Mills Ave. at Lockeford Street, Lodi.
Admission: Free.
African choir: A group called Afri-Tendo will perform at 6 p.m. Sunday at First Baptist. The performance will also include remarks by World Vision Vice President Steve Haas.
Reservations: Online at http://www.worldvisionexperience.org/event_info.php?event_id=109.
More information: Call 334-1332.
Source: First Baptist Church.

Galt church plans bike ride for AIDS victims

A group from Horizon Community Church plans a 360-mile bicycle ride along the California coast to raise money for AIDS victims in Lesotho.
The group will leave Galt on June 20 and return seven days later. The route includes Santa Cruz, Big Sur, San Simeon, Pismo Beach, Ventura, Malibu and Universal City.
Anyone interested in participating may call John Grindrod at 745-7763 or visit http://www.horizonweb.org.
Source: Horizon Community Church.

After a few more introductory remarks, the voice in your headphones (in English or Spanish) instructs you to walk through one of four sets of curtains.

This reporter followed the life of Mathabo, a 6-year-old boy from Lesotho (pronounced Lay-SOO-too). His father left him when he was a baby, and his mother left for neighboring South Africa to look for a job. She didn't return home for five years, but when she did, she was very sick, and Mathabo ended up taking care of her. His mother eventually died.

The tour ends with a visit to a medical clinic. A First Baptist volunteer stamps your hand at the "test results" window, which indicates whether you are HIV positive or negative.

"It was an excellent opportunity to walk through the life of someone with HIV," Lodi resident Malee Raphael said. "We don't even take the time to think about other countries. With just a blink of an eye, we could have been born in Africa."

Dayna Panella of Lodi said she was struck by the emotions and actually seeing the expressions on the children's faces.

About 300 people from the Lodi area have already volunteered for at least one four-hour shift to help produce the event.

Lodi is one of 80 cities hosting the AIDS exhibit, which began in 2007. Associate Pastor Glen Barnes expects about 500 people to walk through the exhibit on each of the five days at First Baptist, and more than 300,000 people are expected for the two-year national tour.

Contact reporter Ross Farrow at rossf@lodinews.com.

Reader Feedback

jpb75 wrote on Feb 29, 2008 8:43 AM:

" If you are thinking about going, stop thinking and just go. I was one of the first groups to go through it yesterday and it was so moving. It's less about religion and more about hope. We are so lucky to have this in Lodi for four days. "

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