Walking in someone else's shoes

COEUR d'ALENE - The smell will hit first.

The sound of dozens of sewing machines droning in unison coupled with oppressive heat in near-darkness will follow. It's uncomfortable. It's supposed to be.

Sweatshops earned their name for a reason and, even though this isn't a dark corner in Asia, people who step into the interactive exhibit at North Idaho College March 6-8 should walk away with a better understanding of the working conditions some laborers endure in other parts of the world.

"It's highly interactive and it will take people out of their comfort zones," said Chloe Van Zandt of Rathdrum, president of the Associated Students of North Idaho College and co-chair of the Footsteps Committee. "We want them to learn something new - to experience something they hadn't before in their life."

This is the first year NIC has hosted an exhibit like "Footsteps: A Journey of Many." Van Zandt said the idea came from a trip to the University of Montana where she saw a similar exhibit in its fourth year that was wildly popular. Members of ASNIC, the Diversity Events Committee, NIC Residence Hall, the Gay-Straight Alliance, the Theatre Club and others packed into two vans last March and drove to Montana to check out the exhibit and see if that enthusiasm could be replicated. What they found was somewhat daunting.

"We realized what a big project it would be," Van Zandt said.

Interactive exhibits like Footsteps are typically large meeting rooms that are sectioned off into four to six sections. Each room is its own "exhibit" that will deal with unique topics chosen, researched and presented by the different student groups. The rooms highlight contemporary issues of social injustice and introduce participants to experiences they wouldn't normally encounter. These experiences are designed to be intense and affect several senses - to put the participant in someone else's shoes. Topics at other schools have included animal welfare, poverty, social isolation of the elderly and challenges faced by those living in third-world countries.

Many other schools hire professionals to put on similar interactive exhibits. But, by having NIC students put it on themselves, they received the added value of learning through doing, Van Zandt said.

American Indian Student Alliance members Amanda Johnson and Katie Sailto of Coeur d'Alene took it a step farther by involving their own children. AISA's room exhibit will deal with sweatshops and the children who oftentimes have to work in them. Johnson and Sailto have set up life-sized cutouts from pictures they took of their children. The mock sweatshop is designed to overwhelm participants' senses with smells, noise, darkness and cramped quarters. One by one, a spotlight will shine on the cardboard cutouts of the children and their recorded voices will give first-person accounts of life working in a sweatshop.

Johnson and Sailto used the experience to teach their own children how the choices they make spending their money have consequences.

"She (her daughter) is taught about money in school and knows the value of money," Sailto said. "But, not the true cost."

Johnson had her children look up their favorite brands and research where and how those companies make their products.

"Kids today grow up too materialistic," Johnson said. "My kids don't have a lot, but now they know they have more than others."

Van Zandt said sparking dialogue and raising awareness is exactly what "Footsteps: A Journey of Many" is about. At the end of the exhibit, participants will be taken through a "Room of Hope" where they can learn how to be proactive if an issue from the exhibit resonates with them.

"The Room of Hope gives them processing time," Van Zandt said. "For example, maybe they didn't realize there was human trafficking here in Idaho. Well, here's the next step; here's what they can do about it. Where they go from there is up to them."

Groups will be led through the free exhibit every half hour from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and then from 3 to 6 p.m. March 6-8 in the Edminster Student Union Building Lake Coeur d'Alene Room on NIC's main campus. Walk-ins are welcome, but reservations are encouraged. Reservations can be made online at www.nic.edu/footsteps.

"Footsteps: A Journey of Many" is designed for a mature, college-aged audience. High school students are welcome, but they should have permission from their parents if they are under the age of 18.

If you go

What: The North Idaho College exhibit "Footsteps: A Journey of Many"

When: March 6-8

Where: Edminster Student Union Building Lake Coeur d'Alene Room.

How: The exhibit is free and open to the public, but is intended for mature audiences. Walk-ins are welcome, but reservations are encouraged. Reservations can be made online at www.nic.edu/footsteps.