Dinner is served

Hello all~

Earlier in the month TTS26 staged a hunger banquet after learning about the United Nations, foreign aid and development. Beth sets the stage below - I encourage you to read the first paragraph, close your eyes and imagine yourself in this same situation. Think about being on each level and what it may feel like to look up to those above you or down to others. Do you think about this as you eat a meal, buy something at the store, throw away a partially used item or leave something in the back of your closet/garage/freezer? Probably not... but that isn't the point. This exercise showed students different perspectives to help them think about the global community. Enjoy the exercise and the following RRQ's by two students.

Aunge

Students participated in a "Hunger Banquet" based on OxFam's model.  In the simlulation, the students were assigned to an economic class.  They were positioned based by these groupings: most on the ground, some in Crazy Creek chairs, and two at a table with real chairs.  Each person read aloud a card that summarized a representative life situation to help contextualize what upper, middle and lower class mean in the real world (all over the globe).  Then, we served a meal to each person based on what resources they might have available to them as a result of their economic class.  After eating, we debriefed the situation to elicit larger conclusions about the prevalence of hunger and the nature of privilege.  --Beth

RRQ by Toni, Junior, Montana 

I could hear the low rumble at the pit of my stomach as I was waiting in line.  It had been four hours since I last ate and I was hungry.  Anxiously waiting in line, I turn around when Bekah hands me a piece of paper with a green stripe on it and a story.  The story was titled "middle income."  I then look up and see two chairs with a table, another circle of just chairs, and a blank space in the grass.  We were then instructed to sit in our designated seats and were given different proportions of food.  It then became apparent to me that we were simulating poverty.  I was aware that poverty existed but I never chose to acknowledge the fact that poverty was a reality for over one billion people on Earth.  I began to feel overwhelmed knowing that though this was only a simulation, many in the world will go hungry tonight.  When I heard the statistic that many people live off of less than one thousand dollars a year, I felt an unwanted burden of sadness and guilt.

I was overcome with a culpable feeling knowing that I was born into stability without having to work for it.  This made me think of all the people we have encountered on this trip.  Each day they struggle with the burden of hunger, yet survive.  With all of these thoughts racing through my head I began to lose my appetite.  I felt that I didn't deserve to eat any more than the people who go to bed starving.  Through this experience I realized that food and money are a privilege, not a right, and should not be taken for granted.

RRQ by Malia, Junior, Montana

I sat on the prickly grass looking at my small bowl of nshima.  Only headlamps broke the darkness, but not the silence.  Caroline and Jane sat at "The Table."  A handful in Crazy Creeks were the middle class.  However, the majority of us were on the ground -- impoverished.  When people read their cards aloud, I was struck by how tilted my world view of wealth is.  I expected Caroline and Jane to have lavish, in my opinion, lifestyles.Better off than myself.  That was not the case.  I was shocked by who and what made up the top 20% of the world, and was completely astonished by the time we had all read our cards.  I couldn't stop repeating the phrase in my head, "this is wrong," followed by, "no way this is the majority."  I was in utter disbelief.  My shoulders hunched over, I crossed my legs tight, and pressed my arms to my stomach.  I sat feeling nothing but uncomfortable.  Hearing the different lifestyles, and realizing my real lifestyle was not read aloud.  Only then I began to understand the depth of all that I have.

I have never fully understood all I have, and am just now beginning to scratch the surface.  I was uncomfortable because I don't like to think about inequalities, especially when the solutions to them are not apparent.  Also, thinking of all I was born into, by chance, and taking that for granted in the past...makes me think I am selfish and ignorant, which is not how I want to be.  The hunger activity we did made me think about and question, what can I do to take action?  That both excited and frustrated me, because there are some actions I can take, but they are not on as large of a scale as I would hope.  This also made me want to practice being more grateful for all I do have.  Along with using the opportunities I have access to, to impact the world positively.  This also made me want to become more aware of other people, and lifestyles around the world.  I connected this experience to reading "Half the Sky" in eighth grade and having the same uneasy feeling.  I also connected this to how it is not easy to empathize with other people foreign to myself.  Most of all, it made me want to learn more about the world, develop a deeper appreciation for all that I have, and find a way to be a positive force.