Hunger Banquet

Last night I went with some friends to the 20th annual Hunger Banquet. Every year BYU's students for international development put on this banquet. They then donate the proceeds to NGOs. Everyone pays the same amount for a ticket, but once you get there you are divided into classes. Ten percent of the people are upper class and they get a three course meal. Twenty percent are middle class. They get to sit on chairs and eat hot dogs, a bag of chips, and a soda. The other 70 percent sit on blankets and cardboard on the floor while they eat rice and beans and drink water from a plastic bag. It is supposed to illustrate world poverty. There was also entertainment and a great speaker, Martin Burt, who is involved in many projects to help eliminate poverty and hunger around the world.

Some things that were said last night that I wrote down:

• Celebrate human dignity.
• We are all descendants of poverty.
• We eliminate poverty by working together and by treating the poor with respect and admiration, not pity. We all have dignity. The worst thing you can do is think of it as us and them.
• Let's be courageous and leave our comfort zones.
• If we're gonna change the world, let's do it as happy people.