I know I haven't posted a lot lately, despite the fact that I have a beautiful new camera from Christmas. The reason? The Hunger Banquet. In addition to the three classes I'm taking right now, I'm also a member of the student organization Students for International Development, which organizes the Annual Hunger Banquet. I applied and was selected to be a co-chair for the Involvement Committee; our tasks include ticketing, the NGO fair, and preparing people for the actual event. -
So, what is the Hunger Banquet? It's an experience designed to illustrate the world's statistics. 70% of the world's population live in poverty. When you come to the Hunger Banquet, you are randomly categorized into three socio-economic levels and given a meal that represents the plenty, or little, people have in the world. Because of the poverty statistics, the vast majority of those attending the Hunger Banquet will be seated on the floor, sharing a communal bowl of rice and beans with their neighboors. Oftentimes, those seated on the floor leave hungry, which is hard, especially after watching the few people randomly selected to represent the world's rich eating a three course meal.
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The neat things about the Hunger Banquet are these: it opens eyes to the poverty that exists in the world, allows the participants to use this new knowledge to actually make a difference by hosting the NGO fair before and after the event, and raises funds for groups throughout the world who are fighting poverty and suffering. All the food is donated, and the money doesn't go back to SID, so the money is carefully donated to organizations that participate in responsible development.
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What of the theme, Human Dignity? Oftentimes, we think of the poor as people who need Western saviors, yet poor people are hard working and innovative, despite their sometimes desperate circumstances. This theme helps us understand that human worth is intrinsic, not material. The poor have their own dreams and aspirations and ideas for how to achieve them, though they might need additional resources to do so.
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Though helping organize this event has sometimes been stressful, I am so excited to attend. Included in the program: an amazing speaker, incredible dancing and entertainment, and the chance to rub shoulders with others who want to learn and those who already care about International Development.
3 comments:
What a great cause!! I've been meaning to ask you if you've heard of shelfari.com? It's a cute book shelf you can put on your blog and review books,etc. Anyway, I thought of you when I saw it on a blog (stakerzxposed.blogspot.com) Scroll down to the left hand side if you want to see what it looks like.
That is really awesome. Go Jen!
this is fabulous! I wish i was in utah and could attend! really, what a great idea. I remember reading an article about a charter school in utah giving the kids rice and beans for lunch one day as part of a unit teaching the children about what other children in the word experience. i thought it was the greatest idea. anything to raise awareness and open eyes. you inspire me with your involvement.
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