October 27, 1995
Web posted at: 7:15 a.m. EDT
From Reporter Rick Perera
DENVER, Colorado (CNN) -- People in other parts of the world lead very different lives, and sometimes difficult ones. Some school children in Colorado are getting a chance to visit human habitats from around the world, without even leaving their hometown.
Colorado children get to see an African hut made of bamboo and leaves, covered with animal dung. There is a house built of floating reeds, from Peru's Lake Titicaca. And then there's a refugee camp, where victims of war or disaster take shelter. Where can you go to see all of these dwellings, gathered in one place?
Well, here's a hint: You do have to go to the airport. A huge hangar at Denver's former Stapleton Airport has been turned into "Global Village," a reconstruction that recreates the homes of disadvantaged people from all over the world.
The traveling project, sponsored by the Adventist Development
and Relief Agency, has already visited Italy and the
Netherlands this year.
Organizers say that it's making a big impression on the children who get a chance to pack relief boxes for people in need around the globe. "We've seen children in Rome, in Amsterdam, and in Riverside, California, literally take off their clothes and pack them in these care packages that are sent to children in other parts of the world," says Tamara Pleitez of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency.
Denver children are arriving by the busloads to see for themselves what life is like on a refugee boat, crammed with people trying to escape persecution or poverty.
The children can sit down in a "favela," a Brazilian slum
shack with no electricity or running water. Or they can see
the animals that some people keep to help make a living under
tough conditions.
At each stop in the "Global Village," students get their "passport" stamped. It's like taking a real trip around the world.
What makes the village a great learning experience is that volunteers actually live in the dwellings and explain to visitors what it's like. One of the village dwellers encourages the kids to think about how they would adjust their lives if they lived in a refugee camp.
Some of the 10 environments are closer to home. There are alleys and old cars where many U.S. homeless people spend the night. And there are the run-down tenements in big north American cities, where people live in constant fear of crime.
The habitats were built by Hollywood set designers to help visitors experience the sights, sounds and smells, of how other human beings live. "We really want to affect people's gut feelings. When they walk in that tenement, I want them to understand what it's like to live like that. It's dirty, and it's wet, and it's uncomfortable," says production designer Wayne Beswick.
The high school kids who are working as guides at the "Global Village" say that they'll never be the same after the experience. "We should really be thankful for what we have, it's much better than what other people have around the world," says student Elizabeth Lombardo.
Denver is the last stop planned for the "Global Village" until next Autumn, when it is expected to be set up in Kettering, Ohio. By the time the current exhibit packs up October 27, more than 20,000 kids will have seen it.
Organizers hope that they will have built new bridges of
understanding between different worlds.
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