Hunger for a Cause
We hear so much about people starving to death, yearning for even the smallest grain of rice or longing for safe drinking water. It’s everywhere: newspaper, posters, soap operas etc. Hectic lifestyles have left us ignorant about the plight of the less fortunate that it seems all too real – the fact that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. Moved by poverty, the LEO Club, in joint efforts with World Vision Malaysia, held the Taylor’s College Sri Hartamas’s very own 30-Hour Famine Camp.
Let me give you a rough idea of what the 30 Hour Famine Camp really is first. Basically, this annual 30 hour-long camp is a global movement against hunger and poverty. By simulating the daily life of a poverty-stricken child, they aim to educate these individuals about the different difficulties these children are faced with everyday. Participants go without food for 30 hours and get a glimpse of the dire conditions that children and families in need endure every day. So practically no food for one day which is 24 hours, plus 6 hours of sleep which adds up to 30 hours of ‘famine’.
Bingo!
It all started with the usual camp modus operandi: ice-breakers. Like the conventional Bingo, there were 5-by-5 boxes with somewhat individualistic descriptions. Participants were to roam the whole Alpha Theatre and find someone who is i.e. ‘wearing blue underwear’ and get his name and obvious details. Nonetheless, despite the mess and rampaging campers, it was a mingling session like no other – unique and impressive.
Stomp!
The traditional game of popping other peoples’ balloons tied onto their legs. The competition got tight and hilarious when 2 male campers started running around the theatre hall jokingly evading each other.
Architects of the Poor
It’s commonly known as ‘Harta Amanah’ locally, which directly translates to ‘The Stake’ whereby campers, in their own delegated groups, build a model of a house using only newspapers and a roll of cellotape. Sounds impossible? There were some very artistic models being erected, I must say. And the real challenge comes when all 8 group members have to fit into the house regardless of whether the house is stable or spacious enough.
Living in the City Slums
Group members are now labeled as family members like Grandpa, Mama, and Son etc, of which only adults can work to gain money for the family. Their choice of job: legal or illegal. Legal workers would either be a nurse or a food dispenser. Illegal jobs are where people have to transport drugs one way or another and shrewdly escape the roaming police. The salary earned will be used to buy food and medicine for their family members and failing to do so will consequently cause family members to die.
Mystery Game
Campers are now detectives of a mysterious theft. The story goes a little like this: Havannah is a naughty big flirt who seemingly looks nice. She hates her husband, Raphael because he is controlling and self-absorbed. Havannah has an affair with Jo Keller, the gardener, while juggling the security guard, Charlie Stuart at the same time.
Raphael plans to show off a precious jewel during a dinner party. Havannah wants to teach her a lesson by stealing the jewel, and hence succeeded in getting away with it. Then, when Havannah refuses to elope with Charlie, he kills her and the second part of the mystery is unfolded.
Treasure Hunt
Contrary to common treasure hunts, no clues were provided and there was only one simple instruction: retrieve the glow-in-the-dark stars and above all, THE moon cleverly located around the college amidst the dark.
Station Games
1. Climb Across the Mountain
Group members must pass through a rectangular hole above the average height of the waist without touching the rope.
2. Show That You Can Dance
Participants must do a 30-second dance choreography from a random music video.
3. Can You Grab It?
The 2 participants at 2nd Floor will throw newspaper balls down and the 2 participants at 1st Floor must catch it by using 2 plastic bags without looking up.
4. Marble Desperados
Given a time limit, participants must retrieve as many marbles as possible from a bowl of water and marbles using only chopsticks.
Upon reaching the end of this camp, I empathise deeply for the poverty-stricken children around the world. No one deserves to die because of starvation and other preventable diseases. I know, what we did was just symbolic, and activities were carefully planned by the LEO Club to distract us from hunger and they did a fabulous job at that! We ceremonially broke fast at 3pm and ate fried noodles and KFC courtesy of Miss Komathi.
After which, it was time to say our fond farewells to each other. This experience is truly a once in a lifetime experience and I would recommend everyone to join this event. As of today 25,000 kids under age of 5 will die - most of them from preventable causes like hunger, poverty, and disease. If you do the Maths, it means that there's one child dying every three seconds. Something is seriously wrong with this picture. Nobody should die of an empty stomach! Let’s be the force that makes a difference to this global plight: urban poverty!
BY CHAN YUEE SUN
Let me give you a rough idea of what the 30 Hour Famine Camp really is first. Basically, this annual 30 hour-long camp is a global movement against hunger and poverty. By simulating the daily life of a poverty-stricken child, they aim to educate these individuals about the different difficulties these children are faced with everyday. Participants go without food for 30 hours and get a glimpse of the dire conditions that children and families in need endure every day. So practically no food for one day which is 24 hours, plus 6 hours of sleep which adds up to 30 hours of ‘famine’.
Bingo!
It all started with the usual camp modus operandi: ice-breakers. Like the conventional Bingo, there were 5-by-5 boxes with somewhat individualistic descriptions. Participants were to roam the whole Alpha Theatre and find someone who is i.e. ‘wearing blue underwear’ and get his name and obvious details. Nonetheless, despite the mess and rampaging campers, it was a mingling session like no other – unique and impressive.
Stomp!
The traditional game of popping other peoples’ balloons tied onto their legs. The competition got tight and hilarious when 2 male campers started running around the theatre hall jokingly evading each other.
Architects of the Poor
It’s commonly known as ‘Harta Amanah’ locally, which directly translates to ‘The Stake’ whereby campers, in their own delegated groups, build a model of a house using only newspapers and a roll of cellotape. Sounds impossible? There were some very artistic models being erected, I must say. And the real challenge comes when all 8 group members have to fit into the house regardless of whether the house is stable or spacious enough.
Living in the City Slums
Group members are now labeled as family members like Grandpa, Mama, and Son etc, of which only adults can work to gain money for the family. Their choice of job: legal or illegal. Legal workers would either be a nurse or a food dispenser. Illegal jobs are where people have to transport drugs one way or another and shrewdly escape the roaming police. The salary earned will be used to buy food and medicine for their family members and failing to do so will consequently cause family members to die.
Mystery Game
Campers are now detectives of a mysterious theft. The story goes a little like this: Havannah is a naughty big flirt who seemingly looks nice. She hates her husband, Raphael because he is controlling and self-absorbed. Havannah has an affair with Jo Keller, the gardener, while juggling the security guard, Charlie Stuart at the same time.
Raphael plans to show off a precious jewel during a dinner party. Havannah wants to teach her a lesson by stealing the jewel, and hence succeeded in getting away with it. Then, when Havannah refuses to elope with Charlie, he kills her and the second part of the mystery is unfolded.
Treasure Hunt
Contrary to common treasure hunts, no clues were provided and there was only one simple instruction: retrieve the glow-in-the-dark stars and above all, THE moon cleverly located around the college amidst the dark.
Station Games
1. Climb Across the Mountain
Group members must pass through a rectangular hole above the average height of the waist without touching the rope.
2. Show That You Can Dance
Participants must do a 30-second dance choreography from a random music video.
3. Can You Grab It?
The 2 participants at 2nd Floor will throw newspaper balls down and the 2 participants at 1st Floor must catch it by using 2 plastic bags without looking up.
4. Marble Desperados
Given a time limit, participants must retrieve as many marbles as possible from a bowl of water and marbles using only chopsticks.
Upon reaching the end of this camp, I empathise deeply for the poverty-stricken children around the world. No one deserves to die because of starvation and other preventable diseases. I know, what we did was just symbolic, and activities were carefully planned by the LEO Club to distract us from hunger and they did a fabulous job at that! We ceremonially broke fast at 3pm and ate fried noodles and KFC courtesy of Miss Komathi.
After which, it was time to say our fond farewells to each other. This experience is truly a once in a lifetime experience and I would recommend everyone to join this event. As of today 25,000 kids under age of 5 will die - most of them from preventable causes like hunger, poverty, and disease. If you do the Maths, it means that there's one child dying every three seconds. Something is seriously wrong with this picture. Nobody should die of an empty stomach! Let’s be the force that makes a difference to this global plight: urban poverty!
BY CHAN YUEE SUN
