The Hunger Banquet was a very well organized, learning experience. I learned about the great amount of poverty and famine that exists in the world. Not only how it takes many lives around the world, but also back home in the U.S. The percentage of those living in poverty, in the United States, is outrageous. Even more outrageous is that this great percentage of the U.S. poverty is enormously based within our own backyard: in Alachua County.
Also, I was told about what certain families, based on their social class and financial sustainability, had to eat in order to live to see another day. It’s good to know this type of information, for it opens your eyes to the world around you. But, if you are trying to reach a certain group of people, and trying to leave an impact (as the organizers fulfilled in hosting such an event), why not make them experience this life? I was given to eat the certain foods (hardly considered a meal) that families in other countries, as well as the U.S., had to eat in order to live. What is even more sickening is the portion of the “scrap” that these families have available to them. Sometimes their portions are only enough to eat once a day.
The knowledge and enlightenment I received from such an event is something that will surely change the way I think forever. It impacted me in making feel more grateful for what I have, for there are others less fortunate. Although I might not have the riches or the goods, I can still eat three square meals a day. I can even go a day without eating, or decide not to eat certain foods because the taste is appalling. And why am I allowed to do this? Because I have been blessed and know that even if I decide not to eat today, I will still have food to eat tomorrow. Many of these families do not have this choice. If they miss their daily ration because they dislike it, they are not blessed with the choice of better foods tomorrow. They will not even be blessed with another day to live.
Alongside the enlightenment I experienced, the Service Learning Project also opened my eyes. Not that they were closed before, but I now have the eyes to see the world for what it is. I am no longer entrapped within the glass bubble I have been living in my whole life. I might have thought it once to be a guard, or shield, to the terrors of society. I now see it was nothing more than a dirty window. It was something obscure, not shielding me, but making me naïve to the world around me. With some paper towels (the organizers of the banquet) and Windex (the truth about the world around me) the beams of light shine through everlastingly.
The organizers of the banquet fulfilled their duties and made an outstanding performance. They not only delivered their message, but also made us experience firsthand what the children of poverty must endure. I also feel that the method in which these coordinators delivered their message, assisted in engraving a lasting impact on those who attended. It was key that they were not monotonous, in order to keep the audience alert, interested, and absorbing the information they provided.
One thing that has to be changed in my community is the views people hold about certain issues. At the banquet, I overheard students saying how they don’t have to worry about these issues because their parents are wealthy. Another one that just outright (pardon my French) pissed me off is “It’s not my fault I was born into a wealthy family.” Yes, they are correct. It is not their fault they were born into these wealthy families. However, they are completely guilty of not trying to make a difference. They do not have to endure these families’ sufferings, because they have the money to live better and have a choice. But, they also have the money, and the power behind them, to make a difference. Why not make good use of your wealth, and do something selfless? Give it a more reasonable task to feed a hungry family than to be spent on new “garbage” for your luxury.This Service Learning Project, the Hunger Banquet, was a grand learning experience. It presented to me the paucity that exists in my society. Moreover, it opened my eyes and made me live, that which many families globally undergo. This event certainly changed my views and the way I will carry on with life. I hope that I was not the only one influenced by such information. It’s time to make a change, and this time, TRULY, for the better.