Extreme games

Africa | Travel to Africa means dramatic change for many from America, but one group is pushing the back of the envelope even further: not only living in Africa, but living like poor Africans | Marvin Olasky, Susan Olasky

Part three of a series by Marvin & Susan Olasky in Loskop, South Africa. Read Part I and Part 2.

When first lady Laura Bush two weeks ago visited three African countries, more Americans became conscious of how AIDS is ravaging the continent. In South Africa, for example, she learned that the country has more than 6 million officially HIV-positive people out of a population of 47 million, with the real figure probably much higher.

Since government-to-government aid has rarely been helpful, what Americans can do about the crisis is harder to gauge. The easier way is to send a contribution to some large organization and hope a chunk of it gets to the needy in a way that actually helps them. A harder way is to go to Africa and personally work with those in need.