At nine years of age, Jey was in jail in Kenya, trapped behind bars.

As a young girl in the Dominican Republic, Yannely recalls that often she had only one meal a day—a green banana and a bowl of rice.

Shamim lost her hearing to malaria when she was just a little girl living in Uganda because her family could not afford the $7 medication.

These are the true stories of children growing up in developing countries. Though the statistics on poverty have greatly improved over the past 25 years, the reality is that there are still 385 million children living in extreme poverty (defined as less than $1.90/day by the World Bank, 2013).

On January 31-February 3 at LowCountry Community Church, you can see what it’s like to live in developing countries as you journey through Compassion International’s The Compassion Experience. In this self-guided tour, using an iPod, a headset and nearly 2,000 square feet of interactive space, you will see the children’s homes, walk through schools and markets, and hear life-changing stories of hope—all from the perspective of a child whose life began in poverty.

“We built The Compassion Experience in order to really bring the developing world to America,” said Mark Hanlon, Compassion International’s senior vice president of global marketing and engagement. “When people think of poverty, they often think of the lack of things, the lack of stuff, the lack of money. Those are all symptoms of poverty. The real issue of poverty is the lack of hope. Through our holistic child development program, Compassion stirs hope in children. And you’ll see that hope come to life at this event.”

This free event is appropriate for all ages and is an excellent opportunity for anyone who has never had the chance to travel outside the United States to get a small glimpse of what life can be like in developing countries.

Compassion International is the world's largest Christian child development organization. Compassion tackles global poverty one child at a time, serving more than 2 million babies, children and young adults in 25 of the world's poorest countries. For more information about Compassion, visit compassion.com.