Hunger, up close and personal
GUEST BLOG
June 11, 2009
Kelsey Johnson
After a full day of classes at MSA, students had a difficult decision ahead of them: what to do. The main goal of MSA seems to be learning in an unconventional open classroom and touching on some “hush-hush” topics. Tonight it was world hunger.
The highlight of my night was the mysterious “hunger meal.” Rumors that the event might involve class separation, fasting and much more were overheard in the elevators and around campus. At first I thought it would just be a bunch of students fasting for the sake of hungry children around the world, but it was so much more.
As we walked into the private dining room, each student was handed a piece of colored paper; red, blue, yellow. The few “blue” students were pampered by the RAs and allowed to eat whatever their hearts desired. The “yellow” were told to serve themselves a dinner of rice and beans, but they did not have a table or drinks like the others did. Then came the “reds,” the poor workers and farmers; this is where I sat. Some of us were handed small bowls of rice and others of beans. No eating utensils were provided, and while some fashioned spoons out of their MSA name tag, many ate with their hands. Attempts were made by the blues to feed the lowly reds, but their efforts were intercepted by the RAs. Some reds were sent to “jail;” I was one of them.
After what seemed like forever in MSA jail, the room shifted from a pretend society back to a room of intelligent students. The facts were given about how bad poverty truly is in other countries and how many people in the United States ignore it completely. Ideas for solving world hunger and poverty were abundant in the room, along with some debate on which was the best solution. The event ended slowly with some heading out to eat and others continuing to fast for the night. Personally, I ate dinner, but I was much more conscious about what I ate and what was wasted.
The night was one of intense emotions and deep discussions, startling facts and astounding figures. As one of the roughly 60 students who attended, I know that I will be watching how much I consume for the rest of academy and continue when I return home.
Photos by Christopher Young. See more in the Missouri Scholars Academy’s online photo gallery.
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