"If we can conquer space, we can conquer childhood hunger." - Buzz Aldrin
 | Hello world! If you are new, welcome to the Luminstruct blog! My name is Mark and I am currently working on a "365-Word Project" by posting reflections on various words every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Today's word is "Hunger".Too often than not, my staff and I come to a crossroads where we must create a program which is educational and interactive at the same time. We don't wish to bore our students, but we also want to create an experience which has a lasting effect with them. This past November, one of my RDs wanted to host a "Hunger Banquet" which easily balanced the line between educational and interactive in a fun and interesting way! |
This Hunger Banquet brought understanding and awareness of world poverty and did so in a very visual way. During this banquet, participants are divided into three socio-economic classes, low, middle, and high income group.
The low class (1/2 of the group) sits on the floor and are given a meal of water and rice.
The middle class (1/4 of the group) sits at plastic tables and serve themselves rice and beans and are allowed to drink water.
The high income class (1/6 of the group) are served chicken, salad, and cheesecake by waiters and have many different options of drink including water, soda and juice.
While the students are eating, we discuss the effects of poverty, and have an in-depth conversation about how they felt in their given class. They are even asked in "introduce themselves" with cards they were given at the beginning of the event which gives a quick background of who they are and makes the experience more personal.
This experience would not have been possible without a group named "Oxfam". Although we personally paid for the meals and reserved the areas, Oxfam provided a free digital "toolbox" which included a shopping list, script, check off list, timeline, reflection questions and so much more! They also mailed us stickers for the participants, flyers and posters for the event to be hung up around campus, as well as print outs of the "introduction cards". The overall process could not have been easier!
If you wish to host an Oxfam banquet, you can find the information here: https://www.oxfamamerica.org/take-action/events/hunger-banquet/
Too often we try to overthink programs when we could just as easily take a look around us and realize the resources are out there and ready to be used. You just need to know where to look.
Question time: Have you attended a Hunger Banquet before?
The low class (1/2 of the group) sits on the floor and are given a meal of water and rice.
The middle class (1/4 of the group) sits at plastic tables and serve themselves rice and beans and are allowed to drink water.
The high income class (1/6 of the group) are served chicken, salad, and cheesecake by waiters and have many different options of drink including water, soda and juice.
While the students are eating, we discuss the effects of poverty, and have an in-depth conversation about how they felt in their given class. They are even asked in "introduce themselves" with cards they were given at the beginning of the event which gives a quick background of who they are and makes the experience more personal.
This experience would not have been possible without a group named "Oxfam". Although we personally paid for the meals and reserved the areas, Oxfam provided a free digital "toolbox" which included a shopping list, script, check off list, timeline, reflection questions and so much more! They also mailed us stickers for the participants, flyers and posters for the event to be hung up around campus, as well as print outs of the "introduction cards". The overall process could not have been easier!
If you wish to host an Oxfam banquet, you can find the information here: https://www.oxfamamerica.org/take-action/events/hunger-banquet/
Too often we try to overthink programs when we could just as easily take a look around us and realize the resources are out there and ready to be used. You just need to know where to look.
Question time: Have you attended a Hunger Banquet before?
