Submitted by Alex Beswick
Many countries around the world are suffering from famine. The lack of nutritious food can permanently affect a child’s physical and mental development. Famine is not a pain in the stomach, it is a reality that millions suffer through each day. Thousands of Canadian students participate in the 30 Hour Famine each year. Last week students of Fernie Secondary School participated in this event, intentionally engaging in and fighting issues that millions of children face every day. The goal of the event is to increase awareness in communities about conditions in developing countries. Students collected pledges and promoted awareness for world hunger in and around the community. From 12 a.m. on Thursday May 30 to the morning of Friday May 1, participants had to go without eating food. Students stayed overnight at the high school on Thursday. Movies and activities were played to keep their minds off of eating. This was a challenging event for many students and everyone learned a lot from it.
During a reflection discussion on the morning of May 1 everyone who participated in the 30 Hour Famine talked about their realization of how lucky we all are to have these resources available to us, emphasizing that this extreme hunger is not acceptable. Many participants also agreed that there is a need to share the wealth of resources we have and create change locally and globally. Strong messages were learned throughout the famine and hopefully shared with the community. The money raised during the famine event will be donated to Free the Children’s sustainable income pillar and an anonymous donor is doubling everything donated through the organization. For more information about Free the Children and their efforts world wide, or to donate, check out www.freethechildren.com.