News Release |
||
|
A hands-on, interactive exhibit featuring AIDS orphans from around the world will be displayed at Marygrove College this winter. The exhibit, "The Children Left Behind," which will open on Feb. 13 in The Gallery and will run through March 14, captures life through the eyes of orphans living in many cultures. From cultures as diverse as Uganda, India, Cambodia, Guatemala, South Africa and the United States, visitors see the children's lives through their own creative voices. The 1,200 square-foot display invites visitors to "travel" to each country, immersing themselves in the stories of these children, and to witness how different life can be when people, communities and organizations work together. Kiosks and colorful life-size stations of each country, presented through photographs, video games, artifacts, a short documentary and original drawings by the children, evoke the hope and inspiration created by the work of Catholic Relief Services (CRS), an international relief and development organization that oversees 80 HIV/AIDS projects in 30 countries. CRS commissioned the traveling exhibit. Archbiship Desmond Tutu, a supporter of "The Children Left Behind," says the exhibit "will open your eyes and touch your hearts because these are stories of children who are beating incredible odds." The exhibit, which opens during the middle of Black History Month, may help bring AIDS awareness to Michigan, where a recent report by the Michigan AIDS Fund showed the state is performing poorly at curbing the infection rate in young African Americans. Of the approximate 17,000 Michigan residents living with AIDS, 67 percent of new infections are coming from southeast Michigan. A public reception for the exhibit will be held in the gallery from 6-8:30 on Friday, Feb. 29. The exhibit is sponsored by Marygrove College and the IHM Sisters. Several IHM Sisters are active in AIDS ministries in Africa and the United States. For more information, visit: |
