On Sunday night, a number of us participated in the World Vision AIDS experience—a traveling exhibit/experience which educates and motivates about HIV/AIDS.  The experience was very well done.  Each participant listened to a real-life story in such a way that was informative with the appropriate amount of emotion to emphasize the points.  As I entered I was handed a small iPod shuffle with the story of Olivia on it.  As I walked through Olivia’s story I learned how she was raped and impregnated at 17, had a son, and then was visited by the same man a few years later who raped her again, and this time conceived a daughter.  The moment of truth came when I (as Olivia) sat in the Health clinic and waited for the result of my blood test.  I received a red stamp with a plus (+) sign on it.  I had AIDS.  It seems that I got it from the second rape and passed it on to my daughter.  My son’s test was negative—though he will likely outlive both his mother and his sister.

Other participants listened to the story of a 7 year old orphan raising her newborn cousin whose mother died in childbirth or of a young boy who was forcibly conscripted as a child soldier by the LRA rebels in northern Uganda.

These stories reminded us of the real world hardships and struggles faced by many around the world and of the good work being done by World Vision and other NGOs to help care for those affected by atrocities.  The injustice faced in these three stories: local violence, growing up without parents, & systematic abduction, were all complicated by a lack of access to health care and general deprivation of food.  My hope is that each us can continue to look for ways to combat injustice overseas and closer to home.