Step into Africa

I left my house for a few moments today for Africa. Not the real continent, but the Africa setup in the West Wing Auditorium. World Vision, the organization that supports children and impoverished families around the world, has a tour that is going around the country that hopes to open the eyes of people on the problems of AIDS in Africa. It is a 20-30 minute "walk" with a headset where you follow the journey of a real child in Africa. This afternoon I followed the footsteps of Babirye a 14 year old from Uganda. She is actually from the village where they believe the HIV virus originated 25 years ago. Her step-father died when she was 4 from AIDS. Her mom showed signs of HIV when she was 8. Her mom left Babirye and her twin sister on the streets for 4 months when she left to seek treatment of her AIDS.
At age 11, Babirye discovered she too will live the rest of her life with HIV. But she still has faith in God. Babirye has seen her mother's health come back to "normal" and come to love God. Babirye and her mother now work with World Vision in their village helping to spread the word about HIV, teach others how to prevent the disease, and sharing the hope of a relationship with Christ. If you haven't yet, sign up and experience the journey of Babirye or one of the other 3 children that are a part of the experience.

Here is a trailer of Babirye's story: