LAS VEGAS— A traveling exhibit lifting up the plight of the world’s refugees. The exhibit will offer an inspiring learning experience for school-age children and people of all ages on human rights and the lives of millions of refugee children who have been uprooted from their homes in various regions throughout the world. This exhibit was developed by Lied Discovery Children’s Museum and the exhibition’s national launch will begin in Las Vegas, Nevada. The exhibit opens Saturday, June 14th, at Lied Discovery Children’s Museum and will be exhibited through December, 2008.

This hands-on exhibit, “Torn from Home: My Life as a Refugee,” will give children an opportunity to gain a real-life experience of approximately 9 million displaced children in the world. It features six exhibit areas: Home, Losing Home, Registration, Refugee Camp, Medical Clinic and Going Home.

The Home exhibit features representative homes of children before they became refugees from countries such as Congo, Columbia, and Afghanistan. The Losing Home exhibit includes interactive video units and a display case addressing the questions: What is a refugee? Where are we going? What will happen to me and my family? What can we take with us? A large world map will highlight refugee crises in sheer numbers and showcases a gallery of portraits, artwork, and written words by refugee children.

The Registration exhibit offers an immersive look into the registration and food distribution process in a refugee camp. Visitors will be invited to identify with a real refugee by donning a registration bracelet and assuming the role of a refugee via an ID card. The Refugee Camp exhibit explores how individual families live within a camp and looks at how basic needs of shelter, water, bathrooms, hygiene are addressed in a camp. Visitors will be challenged to build their own shelter using few materials.

Visitors will also gain insight into the dangerous health conditions experienced by many refugees in the Medical Clinic exhibit. Children will see firsthand the great challenges faced by refugee children in accessing health care services, and will be able to compare their weight and height to refugee children.

Since education is of critical importance to all children, particularly refugee children, the School exhibit will feature an earthen school setting reflecting the limited resources available within a refugee camp. An interactive maze will help visitors understand the difficulties faced by many refugee children in attending school.

In the Going Home exhibit, visitors will learn about what happens to refugees after they leave the refugee camp, including repatriation, resettlement, and other outcomes. An interactive video kiosk will encourage visitors to share their reflections about the exhibit. A resource center will allow visitors to learn more about aid organizations working with displaced populations.

The exhibit opens in Las Vegas on June 14, 2008, and will then travel to other children’s museum around the United States. This exhibit is sponsored by Pamela and Pierre Omidyar.

Located in the heart of downtown, Lied Discovery Children's Museum is a private non-profit organization designed to provide vibrant and engaging experiences that ignite a love of lifelong learning for children and their families in the arts, sciences and humanities. Imagine a place where you can step into a hurricane, make a bubble as tall as yourself, participate in a chemistry show, dress up and take part in a stage play – all in one afternoon! Since 1990, Lied Discovery Children’s Museum has been offering interactive learning adventures through hands-on exhibitions, multicultural performances, and creative art and science workshops.

Lied Discovery Children’s Museum is located at 833 Las Vegas Boulevard North, and is open Tue. - Fri. from 9 am to 4 pm, Sat. 10 am to 5 pm and Sun. Noon – 5 pm. Admission is $8 for adults and $7 for children ages 1 through 17, seniors and military families. Children under one are free. For more information call (702) 382-KIDS(5437) or visit the Museum website: www.ldcm.org.