“How great it is that not a single person need to wait before changing the world”
-Anne Frank
30 Hour Famine
Before we continue I want you to first take a moment and reflect on the photos posted above. Assuming you have a pulse in your body, they should make you feel fairly uncomfortable. Maybe they make you feel sad? Or angry? Perhaps even both.
While reading this post today, I ask that you contemplate this question ” Why, despite an abundant amount of food, shelter, and water, does poverty continue to exist?”
This weekend a group of classmates and myself participated, in what was my second “30 Hour Famine.” This profound event, sponsored by World Vision , was put together to raise awareness and money in hopes to one day eradicate poverty in the world.
The event was simple. A group of about 70 students and myself gathered for a lock-in at our school and consciously fasted for 30 hours, giving us perhaps a small glimpse of what it feels like to be hungry. Raising money is easy, fasting for 30 hours is not.
Participating in the 30 Hour Famine was unfortunately not as popular as it should have been.
Some reasons I heard from friends who did not attend:
“I need to eat.”
“I’ll starve to death.”
” Starving myself will not raise money for the children.”
” I don’t have time.”
“Why, despite an abundant amount of food, shelter, and water, does poverty continue to exist?”
For those who attended the event with their heart, I truly applaud you. It’s because of people like you that this world has hope.
Lessons Learned
So what did “starving” myself for 30 hours teach me you might ask?
The answer?
Something needs to be done.
For many hours I have contemplated on how I am going to convey today’s simple message.
I am well aware that statistics do very little in regards to evoking emotion. Therefore I’m not going to bother you with stats like ” 3 billion people live on less than a dollar a day” or “26,000 thousand children under the age of 5 die everyday to due to poverty.” I’m not going to bother letting you know that 8 billion dollars a year could provide food for everyone in the world, and that Americans spend 14 billion dollars a year on diet products.” Instead I’m going to try to do something different with you today.
I ask that you get comfortable.
Close your eyes.
Picture a loved one.
How does that person make you feel?
This could be your mom, dad, brother or sister, your son, your daughter or perhaps even your best friend.
I want you to picture the joy and excitement that this person brings you.
For a moment simply feel.
Now I want you to imagine, this person laying in your arms.
Their stomach bloated from starvation. Looking into your eyes,their body dying for food, they cry “feed me“. You have no food to give them.
You stare back at them hopeless. There’s nothing you can do.
Your loved one soon dies in your arms.
Now if you did this exercise correctly you should be feeling pretty emotional right now. For hundreds of thousands of parents around the world this nightmare isn’t an exercise, it is reality in which they face every single day.
When I do this exercise I picture my 6 year old sister Samantha. The joy she brings to me is unimaginable. I can not fathom one day watching her die because she can’t eat.
The thought of children and parents dying as I lay asleep in my bed makes me want to cry. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
How Hungry Are You?
I’m going to be perfectly honest. For most of my life I have lived a life of ignorance. For most of my life I haven’t given a damn about those around me. For most of my life it’s been all about me. For most of my life I’ve turned my back on service because I’ve had “better” things to do. Yet as I have grown older I have come to realize the error in my ways. Years ago I realized I was lucky, now I realize that it’s up to me make a difference.
It’s up to us to make a difference. Changing the world lies in our mindset. Stop thinking you can’t make a difference because you can. Follow your heart and give. Doing service is positively correlated, the more you do the more you will want to do. Quit sitting back waiting for others to solve our problems.
The solution is you.
I was debating on whether or not to put a list of organizations that you could contact to help give, yet I think it’s best you do your on research. There are hundreds if not thousands of organizations out there that want to make a difference, make sure to choose one’s that are congruent with your purpose. If you are completly lost I suggest you check out Free Rice.
The 30 hour famine made me hungry. The funny thing was, this hunger didn’t go away once I broke the fast. No this hunger remains with me today. The 30 hour famine left me hungry, hungry for change. The question is how hungry are you?
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
What a powerful post! Thank you for reminding me of this issue.
Great post and powerful post!
Thank you!
Uncomfortable reading. Truly powerful. Your ability to invoke compassion and the need to do something is inspiring. Change starts with us as individuals.
Jude. x
Amazing post. The vast majority of us are very fortunate, and when we fully embrace that fact, and also acknowledge the fact that millions are suffering, we have the opportunity to change our lives, and in doing so, change the lives of others.
Guys, thanks for the comments. The secret to changing the world lies in our mindset! We can and need to make a difference!
Did you know that the photographer who took that first photo up there later committed suicide?
Great post. I agree that statistics do little. It’s like the saying goes. The death of one person is a tragedy. The death of a thousand people is a statistic. Human behaviour is interesting that way.
@Trey
I actually was aware of that. Some of the pictures he took were absolutely heart-shattering. It does not have to be this way. Change starts with us.
And yes trey human behavior is interesting that way!
Thanks for the comments guys.
great post bud…really inspiring!!!
inspiring…powerful…and extremely thought provoking…
I like the optimism throughout your post, coz the change really needs to begin in that powerful thing sitting inside all our heads…
keep inspiring !!
” Starving myself will not raise money for the children.”
And it’s true. But what these people do not realize -beyond that a 30 hours fast will not starve anybody- is that the first thing they need changing is ourselves. And that’s something in which a fast can help.
Hi Bud, another powerful post! Coincidentally I’m currently also penning a post on the same theme – about how people are actually richer than they realize and the money they deem insignificant is actually abundance to all these poverty stricken countries. Am going to tweet this post too
Hey.
From the bottom of my heart, this is seriously a wonderful post. I have always wanted to help these people who are so much less fortunate than we are, but I don’t know how to. I want to be able to help them ALL at once, but I know that’s impossible.
To me, I think, the only solution is to physically be at the place that is suffering, and help them personally. I want to be able to build them houses, help them farm, and educate them. But it’s so hard these days because we’re still in high school and everything..
But really, great post. I love your writing. Love your thought-process. Love your passion.
We can get different conclusion based on different perspective. It’s a good way to let people know and feel what the real famine is. You also can use another way to help. For example,if you don’t run the 30 Hrs Famine,maybe you can donate the money which is the cost of running the activity directly. Or you can drink one less cup of starbucks coffee each week and donate the money. Of course you need to know how important to help others and how urgent those people are in need of help first. After you know and what the real famine is, can you feel the pain those people are suffering from famine and are you determined to help them consistently?
Sounds to me very motivating for those far placed from the brutal realities of this world, but the 30-hour fast is rather too synthetically dramatic, why don’t you try one month? The hunger of the sort encountered in crisis spots around the world is nothing close to what you can inflict on yourself, its chronic, punishing and weakening, both physically and morally.