Students bringing world hunger to forefront
They may live in a land of plenty, but a group of students at Lakeland High School hope to build local awareness to world issues of hunger, poverty and homelessness. The group began last spring and calls itself Adsideo – which in Latin means to come alongside of.
“The purpose of this small group has often been questioned,” said member Angelene Little. “The response is change. This starts with awareness.”
On Tuesday the members of Adsideo, which number approximately 20 students, will host a hunger banquet at Lakeland High School, to bring awareness to worldwide hunger.
The number of people living in poverty is staggering, said Little, who cited statistics from the World Bank indicators for 2007, which state that nearly 50 percent of people worldwide fall into the low-income group. To be placed in this category, a person must have an annual income of less than $875 per year. The middle-income group is approximately 35 percent of the world population and earns between $876 and $10,725 per year.
“(The term hunger banquet) is very oxymoronic,” Little said. “But there is something great to be said here.”
Little attended a hunger banquet at the University of Idaho and was impressed by what she saw. Working through an international organization called Oxfam America, the Lakeland group will serve meals based upon world averages of hunger and homelessness.
“Attendees are given stories and seated in three different areas: low income, middle income and high income,” said Little.
Those in the low-income group will be seated on cardboard on the hardwood floor and will be served a small bowl of rice and darkened water.
“It is representative of the unclean water these people drink,” Little said. She said the group will most likely use tea to symbolize the darker color of unsanitary water.
Those in the middle-income group will be seated in a row of chairs and will be served a small bowl of rice and beans along with a glass of sanitary water.
For the mere 15 percent who will be placed in the high-income group, they will be served a three-course meal by waiters and waitresses and will be given choices of coffee, tea or water to drink.
“For an hour and a half people will get to live through what others in the world experience each and every day, only on a much lighter scale,” Little said.
In addition to the meal, there will be a speaker who will talk about his personal experiences. Marsilius Flumo was born in Liberia and escaped the political coup in the 1990s. “He will talk about refugee camps in Ghana,” Little said.
Adsideo has a state grant it will use to host the event. In addition, Oxfam America has provided all the posters and supplies. Adsideo will in turn donate all proceeds from the banquet to Oxfam America to purchase camels for Ethiopian herders.
“We chose camels because they are less susceptible to drought and heat,” said Little, who adds that the cost of a camel is $125.
In addition to proceeds from the ticket sales, Little said there will also be T-shirts for sale. On the front is a sketch of two hands holding rice, and on the back is a quote specially chosen by the members of Adsideo.
The experience of a hunger banquet is one that Little and the rest of her group hope will not only bring about awareness, but also change.
“This is an event that will hopefully touch people close to their heart,” she said. Not only will it make those in attendance more aware of how fortunate they are, but it will also help them realize that they have the power to help others, she said. Little said people can help locally even by a small act such as handing out blankets to the homeless or volunteering at a soup kitchen.
During a recent tour of a homeless shelter, Little and other group members learned that more than half of those who are homeless are under 9 years old. It is a statistic that stunned her and has motivated her even more to make a difference not only worldwide, but locally.
“When you are 9 years old, all you really want is a warm bed,” she said.