We hosted a really cool event last night at UPC and it turned out to be a great evening- thanks to help from some good friends here who helped me pull it off.
Guests came to the event and were welcomed at a table where they drew tickets at random that assigned them each to either a high, middle, or low-income group. They then received a corresponding meal.
- 15% of the guests were in the high-income tier and they were served a meal of salad, pasta and juice.
- 35 % in the middle income group were given a simple meal of rice and beans and water.
- 50% in the low-income tier helped themselves to small portions of rice and water.
I knew that it would spark some lively conversation as such a simulation is intentionally awkward. Those who sat in the high income group talked about how uncomfortable it was to be sitting at the tables knowing that others were not eating the same meal and quantity of food. Taylor was placed in the middle income group and was served rice and beans. He got really upset when he realized that his group was not getting juice. He said to me what many others were thinking that evening, "THAT'S NOT FAIR!!". While I knew that this was the point of the evening, he was wrapped up in the moment of the injustice of the whole scenario. When we got home later, it sparked more conversations about the world we live in, what we take for granted, and the responses we are called to.
Liam, who had the low income ticket was coming straight from soccer practice and he was really hungry. To have only a bowl of rice served was hard for him, and he expressed how this had an impact on him.
I got this email this morning from one of the moms who came with her kids:
"I didn't get a chance to thank you last night but my family really appreciated all the work you put into making the hunger banquet happen and opening it up to young families. It was such a great night of learning and inspiration and being sobered by the realities of the world and others just like us. We've already had some good conversations as a result of what the kids learned and saw. Thank you!!"
Share International, Inc.
presents the Oxfam America
Thursday, September 12, 2013
6:15- 8:00 p.m.
University Presbyterian Church in Geneva
Join us for food, discussion, and an interactive
simulation that explores poverty and hunger.
RSVP to emilyhuff@shareint.net
I have my super creative friend Kristi Gilbert to thank for bringing these costumes for kids to play with and try on as they arrived. As I was at UPC setting up most of the day yesterday, she stopped by for a bit to help me with some of the decor and she got inspired to gather these things from her house. It was such a wonderful and creative touch!
We had the huge gift of having Major Mereke from Zimbabwe as our speaker last night.
He was FABULOUS!
He is the administrator at Chidamoyo Hospital there in Zimbabwe and was an inspiration to us last night encouraging everyone to be a light in this world.
It is hard to grasp numbers like this, but I offer these nonetheless:
- More than 2.5 billion people live in poverty.
- Over 925 million people suffer from chronic hunger.
- A child dies from hunger or a preventable disease every four seconds. That’s 22,000 children a day.
(more from what we shared last night below:)
Millions of people don’t have access to the food they need. Global food prices hit record highs in recent years, and remain volatile. For many, food that is within reach one day may not be affordable the next.
Hunger affects everyone, in countries rich and poor. But some of us face greater challenges than others.
About 80 percent of the world’s hungry people live in rural areas, where most work as farmers, fishers, herders, and laborers. Every day, looming constraints on resources—like fertile land and water—make it more difficult for food producers, especially women, to feed their families. Global shifts in weather are adding to the problem, making it harder for farmers to sow and harvest their crops.
You may think hunger is about too many people and too little food. That is not the case.
Our rich and bountiful planet produces enough food to feed every woman, man, and child on earth.
Hunger is about power. Its roots lie in inequalities in access to resources. The results are illiteracy, poverty, war, and the inability of families to grow or buy food.This event acknowledges the plight of the world’s hungry and helps create an awareness of the issues surrounding poverty.
This event is a metaphor for how food and other resources are inequitably distributed in the world. As such, this event can only touch upon the issues. We cannot recreate the many complex ways poverty manifests itself. We will not have time to go into all the problems associated with lack of access to health care, education, and employment opportunities, and the realities of the day-to-day struggle for survival.
The one thing we would like you to remember is this: Everyone on earth has the same basic needs; it is only our circumstances—where we live and the culture into which we are born—that differ. Some of us are born into relative prosperity and security, while millions—through no choice of our own— are born into poverty.
Please note: No one section of this room represents a single country. While the US is one of the wealthiest countries on earth, almost 44 million Americans live in poverty. Nearly 20 percent of children in the US—or about one in every five American children—live below the poverty line. Stark inequalities prevail everywhere.
The important thing is just getting involved—joining a community of people who are working together for change.
I want to leave you with the words of someone whom many have found inspiring, in large part because—despite what seemed insurmountable obstacles—he was able to bring about changes that few believed possible. I am honored to close with his words:
“Massive poverty and obscene inequality...rank alongside slavery and apartheid as social evils. In this new century, millions of people...remain imprisoned, enslaved, and in chains. They are trapped in the prison of poverty. It is time to set them free.
Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life.
“We thank you for coming here today. Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom.
“Of course the task will not be easy. But not to do this would be a crime against humanity, against which I ask all humanity now to rise up.”
The speaker was Nelson Mandela.
Together, we can change the world.
Rise up.
At the end of the evening, Dani Forbess (fabulous staff in Children and Family ministries at UPC) gathered everyone together in giant circle to break down the dividing lines that we had drawn with the groups at the beginning. She reminded us that we are all welcome together around God's table and left us with hope to go into the world to be a light.
I worked on getting lots of our reports done for kids on our waiting list.
While last night we got 5 more sponsors, I would love to recruit more!!
Let me know if you'd like to partner with us.. :)
Anna and Andie
three girls who gave $28 they earned this summer at lemonade stands
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