hunger banquet planning kit

hunger banquet planning kit
A Recipe for Social Change
One-fifth of the world’s population will go to bed hungry tonight...
Oxfam Canada hungry4change: Hunger Banquet Planning Kit
Table of Contents
Page No.
I.
Introduction
1
What is a Hunger Banquet?
1
How it works
1
II.
Planning Your Oxfam hungry4change Hunger Banquet
2
Organiser’s timetable
2
Outreach: Raise funds and awareness
3
Set-up and Logistics
4
Program Planning
4
Some Extra Tips
5
III.
Running Your Oxfam hungry4change Hunger Banquet
7
Master of Ceremonies
7
VIP Guest Relations
7
Volunteer Coordinator
7
The Sound System
7
IV.
Additional Resources
Sample Oxfam Hunger Banquet Floor Plan
6
Sample Oxfam Hunger Banquet Script
8
Sample Characterizations
13
INTRODUCTION
What is a Hunger Banquet?
Oxfam Canada’s Hunger Banquet is a powerful event that brings to life the inequalities in
our world and challenges us — as the more economically fortunate — to realize how our
decisions affect others in the world. Few leave an Oxfam Hunger Banquet with full
stomachs, but all leave filled with a greater understanding of the problems of global
hunger and poverty and the motivation to do something about it.
The Oxfam Hunger Banquet is a dramatization of the inequitable distribution of food and
resources in today’s world. Despite the fact that enough food is produced to feed twice the
world’s population, more than 842 million people are chronically hungry.
The more you involve your audience and create an atmosphere of drama in this combination
awareness and fundraising event, the more effective your Oxfam Hunger Banquet will be.
How it works:
Each guest draws a ticket randomly assigning them to the high-, middle-, or low-income tier as
determined by World Development Report statistics, and is served a corresponding meal. The
15 percent in the high-income tier are served a sumptuous gourmet meal. The 25 percent in the
middle-income tier eat a simple meal of rice and beans. The 60 percent in the low-income tier
wait in line for small portions of rice and water.
An Oxfam Hunger Banquet works best with at least 40 people – the more guests, the more
effective the demonstration.
Oxfam Hunger Banquets provide opportunities for educating your school, community group, or
the public on hunger issues; raising funds to support Oxfam’s poverty fighting work; and
recruiting new volunteers for your Oxfam group. Some schools hold Oxfam Hunger Banquets
as part of orientation. As an organizer of the Oxfam Hunger Banquet, we hope this event
empowers you to participate in social change, educate others, and help Oxfam partners who are
finding solutions to end poverty and hunger.
Thank you for continuing this important tradition by organizing an Oxfam Hunger Banquet and
donating your proceeds to Oxfam Canada. Please know that your efforts to raise awareness
about world hunger and to motivate others to act will make a difference. Don’t forget to email us
at [email protected] or call us at 1-800-GO-OXFAM for advice.
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PLANNING YOUR OXFAM HUNGER BANQUET
This section explains how to plan your Oxfam Hunger Banquet from beginning to end.
We’ve included advice from our own and others’ experiences, as well as tips on the
basics of good planning.
The first step is to recruit volunteers and divide them into committees for 1) outreach, 2) set-up
and logistics and 3) planning the program. Each committee may consist of 2-4. Matching up
volunteers’ interests and skills with committee responsibilities can make all the difference in the
success of your event.
The importance of communication between these committees cannot be overstated. One
person should serve as coordinator of all the activities to keep track of the big picture, keep the
committees informed about the others’ activities and make sure the committees are on track
with the timetable.
HARD TO SWALLOW
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842 million people are plagued by hunger
Nearly 3.7 million Canadians live below the poverty line
1.2 billion people world wide – that’s 1 in 5 – live on less than $1 a day
More than 30,000 children under the age of 5 die every day due to hunger and other
preventable causes
More than 40 million people required emergency food aid in 2003
In Sub-Saharan Africa, 1 in 3 people are malnourished and about half live on less than
$1 a day
Organiser’s Timetable
5 to 8 Weeks Before
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Read this guide and visit www.oxfam.ca for more information.
Get a group of people together and divide up the work to plan the program, food,
publicity, and fundraising.
Set a date and reserve a place to hold your Oxfam Hunger Banquet.
Register your event with Oxfam Canada at www.oxfam.ca.
Select and invite a master of ceremonies and other speakers. Make a list of local
celebrities, musicians and public officials to invite.
Approach dining services or restaurants early for donations.
Print invitations and fliers: list endorsers, prominent participants and restaurants
donating food.
4 Weeks Before
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Send out invitations.
Post your event on e-mail and any other appropriate websites to which you have access.
Prepare press releases for the media.
Decide how you want to arrange your seating and decorate your venue.
3 Weeks Before
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Publicize! Publicize! Publicize!
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Design menus.
Purchase or make decorations.
Put up posters.
Send out press releases and follow up with phone calls.
1 to 2 Weeks Before
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Check all final details.
Review the suggested script in this guide or write your own.
Make more follow up calls to the media and continue publicity.
3 Days Before
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Prepare tickets for high-, middle-, and low-income groups.
Buy food, pick up donated food or go over plans with the chef.
Check on silverware, table settings, etc.
Make last minute press calls and continue publicity.
Day of the Oxfam Hunger Banquet
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Continue publicity.
Set up and decorate the room.
Set up a table with sign-in sheets and other information.
Orient volunteers.
Coordinate food for each income group.
Greet guests and make sure everyone gets a ticket.
Begin!
OUTREACH: RAISE FUNDS AND AWARENESS
Tell your friends and community about your Oxfam Hunger Banquet.
The Outreach Committee handles publicity and the media. It should have an attendance goal
and generate as much publicity as possible.
The purpose of these publicity efforts is to get people to attend your Hunger Banquet so they
can learn about poverty and the dire need to address it. Often, after an event, organisers think
of missed opportunities.
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Set Up and Logistics
This team directs all the groundwork for the Oxfam Hunger Banquet. The Set-Up and logistics
Committee is responsible for fundraising and/or soliciting donations of food, decorations, venue,
and audio-visual equipment. Committee members will also be responsible for recruiting
volunteers to prepare for and staff the event. It will be easier on the day of your event if you
assign volunteers to tasks (setting up the Oxfam Hunger Banquet, decorating, greeting guests,
serving meals, cleaning up) in advance. The goal of this committee is to ensure that the Oxfam
Hunger Banquet runs as smoothly as possible. Once you have conceived your Oxfam Hunger
Banquet scheme and planned what you want to do, the next question is: Where is the money
going to come from? Many groups run Hunger Banquets as a fundraiser for Oxfam Canada, so
they try to spend as little as possible. Whether your event is a fundraiser or not, you will be
working within a budget, so keeping expenses down will be important. Your budget will likely
include: Decorations, Food, Publicity, Room Space, Sound System, and Speakers.
It is a good idea to make up your own list before planning your fundraising strategy. Once you
have a list, you can start coming up with ways to cross off expenditures. Food can be your
biggest expense, though through donations it can often cost nothing. If you have a dinning hall
or cafeteria food service, try asking them to donate food. If you don’t have a food service, ask
for donations from local restaurants and grocery stores. Let potential donors know that they will
receive publicity through your printed program, press releases, and at the Oxfam Hunger
Banquet itself. Seek out community stores, businesses, institutions, and individuals that might
be able to assist you.
When talking with potential sponsors, emphasize the positive nature of your Oxfam Hunger
Banquet. Many businesses and organizations have made it their policy to support social justice
or public/community service efforts as a means of supporting the community and burnishing
their public images. Tip: when seeking outside support, be sure to write a professional letter
first and then follow-up immediately with a call and possibly a visit. The personal touch is
almost always helpful.
Program Planning
The program planning committee is generally smaller than the other two, but it plays and
important role. By overseeing the structure and design of the program, this committee has the
task of making sure that your Oxfam Hunger Banquet meets its educational goals and
effectively conveys its message. The idea is to create a dramatic, interactive event that enables
participants to experience the extent of global poverty, the degree of inequality in the world, and
the interconnectedness of the three income tiers. Your Oxfam Hunger Banquet should also
demonstrate ways in which poor people are taking action to improve their lives. Sample
income-level characterizations can be used to illustrate this point. From this fundamental
interconnection stems the hope that through education and action, people can help to create a
more just distribution of the world’s resources. People should leave with not only a greater
understanding of poverty, but also specific actions they can take to help, such as making a
financial contribution, joining an Oxfam group, or organizing a future event.
Your Oxfam Hunger Banquet should not lose its local distinctiveness. In other words, plan an
event that will resonate with your audience – your school, place of worship or community group
– by taking into account people’s experiences, values and environment. An Oxfam Hunger
Banquet for 200 University students will look different from one in a church or elementary
school.
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You may want to prepare your audience with a discussion about hunger and poverty issues prior
to the event. Some schools have used advisory groups to inform students about the nature of
income distribution so they feel more comfortable and can better appreciate the flow of events.
University Oxfam Hunger Banquets sometimes have participants fast the day before the event
and/or distribute educational materials about poverty and hunger issues that will come up at the
event. Try to gauge how well you think your audience would react to the message of the Oxfam
Hunger Banquet as a surprise versus how much more they would be able to appreciate the
issues if they were better informed.
The Program Committee also plans the order and content of the program, including how much
time is allocated to each part. It also arranges for a master of ceremonies, other speakers, and
VIP guests. Take a look at the sample program below, the sample MC script, and the sample
income-level characterizations as a starting point to create a program that will suit your
audience.
The move up/move down scenarios (contained in the Sample Oxfam Hunger Banquet Script) is
at once engaging, entertaining, and educational. They demonstrate how forces beyond a
person’s control can cause them to move from one tier to another – either up or down.
The sharing period, after people have finished their meal, is usually the most powerful part of
the Oxfam Hunger Banquet, because it allows people to ask the hard questions. The MC may
ask people in the first tier how thy feel with such an abundance of food, or find out what people
in the third tier would propose to make the distribution of food more equal. You may also plan a
time for reflection after the Oxfam Hunger Banquet to continue the discussion.
Creating as much drama as possible will help to engage your audience. Here are some ideas
that have worked well with other groups:
•
•
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Have volunteers dress up as guards for first tier guests.
As people line up for food, announce that the females must go to the end of the line so
they will be served last. This will generate a lively discussion during the sharing period!
The income-level characterizations can be printed from our website as lottery tickets,
designate income tiers to add interest to your Oxfam Hunger Banquet. Each one
describes the situation of a specific person in one of the three tiers. The MC can invite
several people to read their income level characterizations.
Some Extra Tips:
You can charge admission or simply ask for donations. Invite faculty, students, parents, local
businesses, and community organizations. Get groups to buy a block of tickets or co-sponsor
the event to help defray expenses.
Ask local restaurants to donate food. Let contributors know that you will credit them in your
printed materials (flyers, posters, programs, press releases) and through announcements at the
event itself. Ask local businesses or groups to match what you raise through your event.
Set up a special table to distribute materials from Oxfam Canada.
As guests arrive, have them take a ticket out of a bowl or box - 15 percent will be high income,
25 percent middle income and 60 percent low-income. For example, if you expect 100 people,
mark 15 tickets with high income, 25 with middle income and 60 with low income. If more
people show unexpectedly, direct then to the low-income group.
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RUNNING YOUR OXFAM HUNGER BANQUET
The Master of Ceremonies
The Master of Ceremonies must have a commanding presence to hold the audience’s attention
for the duration of the Oxfam Hunger Banquet. This is the most demanding of all the
responsibilities because it falls on the MC’s shoulders to get the audience to participate in the
sharing session, which is one of the most important parts of the event. Along with being an
effective public speaker, the MC should have a good grasp of the Oxfam Hunger Banquet
concept and objectives. Some schools have asked drama students to be their MC; others have
asked local newscasters or professors with good public speaking skills. Use the sample Oxfam
Hunger Banquet script or write your own. The MC should be briefed on how and what will be
served during the Banquet, as he/she will be expected to give directions concerning the food.
VIP Guest Relations
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Your VIP guest list will be divided into two parts - celebrities and sponsors. Celebrities are
people you invite to draw other people to your Oxfam Hunger Banquet (local politicians, the
president of your school, a local band, or dance group) and/or to provide insight into social
justice issues. Speakers need to be briefed on where to sit, their place in the program, when
they will be called on to speak, and for how long. They should be introduced to the MC and
other speakers.
Sponsors, whether individuals or heads of corporations, should be shown how their support
contributed to the event and thanked, both in person and by the MC, as part of the program. If
appropriate, they may even be given a bit of the spotlight.
Volunteer Coordinator
The Volunteer Coordinator picks up where the Set-Up and Logistics and Program Planning
Committees left off. This person’s most important responsibilities are assigning people to
specific tasks and coordinating multiple activities at once. Volunteers should arrive early for an
orientation by the Volunteer Coordinator. They will put up the decorations, set up the room, and
perhaps prepare the food. Others will greet the guests, have them add their names to the signin sheet and pick their ticket (or “lot in life”), serve the food, and clean up once the Oxfam
Hunger Banquet is over. Due to the dramatic nature of the Oxfam Hunger Banquet, volunteers
need to be fully versed in their roles. The volunteers serve not only a practical purpose, but they
are also the first people to interact with participants as they arrive.
The Sound System
The sound system is an essential feature of the Oxfam Hunger Banquet to keep the audience
involved. An effective sound system that can be heard over the crowd, particularly while people
are finding their way to their appointed areas, will help your MC stay in control of the event.
Look into the quality of the acoustics when you select the site for your Oxfam Hunger Banquet
and arrange for at least two microphones (one for the MC and at least one cordless microphone
for the audience during the sharing period).
5:00 - 6:00
Volunteers arrive. Volunteer coordinator gives orientation and assigns volunteers
to specific tasks. Set up and decorate site.
6:00 - 6:15
Greet guests and have them draw tickets. Direct guests to their income groups.
6:15 - 6:20
Welcome address by host, which includes acknowledgement of sponsors and
people who helped make the event possible.
6:20 - 6:35
MC reads Oxfam Hunger Banquet script describing the three income groups and
move up/move down scenarios.
6:35 - 6:50
Meal is eaten. In background: music played to slide show.
6:50 - 7:15
MC asks for a moment of silence to reflect on feelings about the Oxfam Hunger
Banquet. Sharing period: MC walks among audience and asks participants to talk
about their experience. One or two other people circulate with cordless
microphones to give other participants a chance to share.
7:00 - 7:15
Guest speaker or Oxfam video.
7:15 - 7:30
Conclusion: information on how participants can help. Suggestions include
donating to Oxfam, going to the Oxfam website, joining the Oxfam eCommunity to
take action on poverty, hunger, and injustice, or planning your own Oxfam event.
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Sample Oxfam Hunger Banquet Program
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Sample Oxfam Hunger Banquet Script
We are here today to mark World Food Day, and to recognize the fact that 1.2 billion people live
in poverty. 842 million of these people suffer from chronic hunger.
Every 2.9 seconds, a child dies from hunger and other preventable diseases….that’s 30,000
children a day.
One of the most common misconceptions about hunger is that it is about too many people and
too little food. Not true. Our rich and bountiful planet produces enough to feed every woman,
man and child on earth.
It’s about power. The roots of hunger lie in inequalities in access to education and resources.
The results are illiteracy, poverty, war, and the inability of families to grow or buy food.
Today, you join us in the fight against hunger. The fact that you are here shows that you are
concerned, that you want to learn more about our world of inequality and that you want to make
a difference.
This banquet is a metaphor for how food and other resources are inequitably distributed in the
world. As such, we can only touch upon the issues here today. We cannot recreate the many,
complex ways poverty manifests itself. We will not have time to go into all the problems
associated with lack of access to healthcare, education, and employment opportunities, and the
realities of the day-to-day struggle for survival.
The one thing I would like you to remember is this: everyone on earth has the same basic
needs, it is only our circumstances – where we live and the culture we are born into – that differ.
Some are born into relative prosperity and security, while millions – by no choice of their own –
are born into poverty.
As each of us walked in the door here today, we chose our lot, at random. Look around, and
you can see that equality and balance don’t exist here.
Please note: no one section of this room represents a single country. While North America is
one of the wealthiest regions on earth, millions of North Americans do live in poverty. Stark
inequalities prevail everywhere.
Now, I would like to introduce you to the three segments of this world. But do remember – it’s
too easy to measure this world purely in economic terms. It is really about each person’s ability
to achieve a sense of security and have access to resources.
NEAR HIGH-INCOME GROUP:
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If you are sitting over here, you represent the 15% of the world’s population with a per capita
income of $11,468 Canadian or more. You are fortunate enough to be able to afford a nutritious
daily diet. As a group, you consume 70% of all the grain grown in the world, most of it in the
form of grain-fed meat. Although some of you have the privilege of being able to go on trendy
diets and count calories by choice, most of you exceed your daily requirement of calories. You
face health problems such as heart disease and diabetes.
But most of you don’t worry about getting healthcare. You have access to the best medical care
in the world. It’s a given that your children will attend school; the only uncertainty is how many
years they will study after high school.
Access to credit? You turn down more offers than you can count. You and your family live in a
comfortable and secure home. You own at least one car and probably two televisions. When
you take your annual two-week vacation, you don’t worry about your job disappearing. You
have access to everything you need and the security to enjoy it.
MOVE NEAR MIDDLE-INCOME GROUP:
If you are sitting here, you represent roughly 25% of the world’s population. You earn between
$1,152 and $11,467 a year. The levels of access and security you enjoy vary greatly. You are
the folks who live on the edge. For many, it would take losing only one harvest to drought, or a
serious illness to throw you into poverty.
You probably own no land and may work as a day laborer, which pays a paltry amount – but it’s
better than nothing. Your small income allows for some use of electricity and a few years of
schooling for your children – especially if they are boys. Alternatively, you may have left your
family to go work in the city. You hope that the money you earn from your less-than-minimumwage job as domestic help or sweatshop worker will eventually allow you to move back home
and make a better life for your family.
MOVE NEAR LOW-INCOME GROUP:
If you are sitting on the floor, you represent the majority of the world’s population – roughly 60
percent. Your average income is less than $1,151 a year – about $3 a day – although many of
you earn much less.
Every day is a struggle to meet your family’s basic needs. Finding food, water, and shelter can
consume your entire day. For many of you women, it would not be uncommon to have to walk 5
to 10 miles every day to get water, spend several more hours working in the fields, and of
course take care of the children.
Many of you are frequently hungry. It is quite likely that you don’t get the minimum number of
calories your hardworking life requires. Many of you are homeless or living in structures so
flimsy that a hard rain or strong wind can cause a major catastrophe.
Even though education is the single most powerful weapon against poverty, school is a luxury
few of your children will ever experience. Most girls don’t even bother to dream about school.
Adequate healthcare is out of the question for many of you in this group. For most of you, early
death is all too familiar, with many mothers expecting to lose one or two children before they
turn five.
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If you are lucky enough to have paid work, you are probably a tenant farmer who must give your
landowner 75% of your harvest. Or, you may get occasional work as a day laborer at a large
plantation growing bananas, sugar, or coffee for export. You reap few benefits from these
crops; you’d prefer to grow food your children could eat.
MOVE UP/DOWN SCENARIOS:
Now, I have some news that will affect several of you:
Like we’ve said, no one can choose the circumstances into which they are born. Some people
have the good fortune to change their lives for the better, but for most the circumstances of life
are determined by factors outside of their control.
[Now, turn to high-income group and ask the participant with the characterization card of
“Fred Keller” to stand]
Fred, you are a middle manager at a large multinational coffee company. The world market
price of coffee has reached record lows. Even though your company is paying less for the
coffee, it is not going to lower the prices it charges North American consumers. Your company’s
profit margins are about to escalate, and you will receive a hefty bonus at the end of the year.
Congratulations! Maybe you’ll take a Caribbean vacation. While you’re deciding how to spend
your bonus, please remain standing while I introduce two people you wouldn’t ordinarily get to
meet.
[Ask the participant with the characterization card of “Joseph Mkomo” in the middleincome group to stand]
You have just been laid off from your job picking coffee beans, which allowed you to provide the
basics for your family in Kenya. After the price of coffee dropped, your employer was forced to
scale back its workforce because it could no longer afford to pay everyone. Please move to the
low-income group.
[Ask the participant with the characterization card of “Lillian Kenyatta” in the low-income
group to stand]
Please meet Lillian Kenyatta. You live in the same village as Joseph and you eke out a living
selling maize and other vegetables from your garden, in the local market. Because Joseph and
many of your other customers have been laid off from the nearby coffee plantation, they are
buying less from you, and you can’t afford enough corn for your family. You will receive only a
half-portion of rice today.
[Ask the participant with the characterization card of “Theresa Sanchez” to stand from
the low-income group]
In an effort to improve her and Tomas’ circumstances Theresa has secured employment in a
maquilladora sewing sports apparel for Canadian Universities. Theresa feels very lucky
because it is one of the few factories that pays a decent wage and allows a union to protect the
workers’ rights. Students and other citizens in the North helped the workers in the factory by
passing ethical purchasing policies at their universities. This means that the universities will
only purchase from factories that respect workers’ rights. Although Theresa is now able to earn
a decent wage she feels the job comes with a high price. The maquilla is located 7 hours North
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of Mexico City so she is unable to see her family. Theresa is trying to find Tomas a job but there
aren’t many, but she has not lost hope.
[Turn back to address entire room]
This is just a small slice of life as it plays out each day around the globe.
Now we invite you to eat as the world eats.
Those of you in the high-income group will be served a nutritious meal of linguine with white
wine cream sauce and bell peppers, broccoli and cauliflower salad and fruit juice. Those in the
middle-income group will be eating rice, beans and tea. People in the low-income group will
receive rice and water.
Enjoy your dinner.
Here are a few ways to get involved:
•
Organize another Oxfam Hunger Banquet.
•
Join Oxfam’s eCommunity and—with the click of a mouse—make a difference on key
policy issues including unfair trade that affect millions of people throughout the world.
•
Look for the Fair Trade label when purchasing coffee, tea, and other products in your
supermarket. Buy from small and local farmers whenever possible.
•
Volunteer at Oxfam and join our food and trade campaign. Together we can make a
difference. Thank you for coming.
To make your Oxfam Hunger Banquet more interesting for your guests, we have developed
characterizations. You’ll find a sampling here. Copy them onto different colored paper and use
as the tickets that guests draw as they arrive. Use a different color for each income group.
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HIGH INCOME
My name is John. My parents emigrated from
Italy and raised my brothers and me in a
tenement in Toronto. I worked my way through
college and law school, taking on a variety of
odd jobs, and then started my own law
practice. I am now able not only to live in a fine
home and travel extensively, but I’ve also been
able to “give back” by paying for college for
high school graduates with exceptional promise
who come from disadvantaged backgrounds.
HIGH INCOME
I am Verena. My father was the director of the
Festspiel (internationally renowned music
festival in Salzburg, Austria). I studied art in
Venice, Italy. My father’s connections and
financial support allow me to dedicate myself
full-time to my artistic endeavours while living
comfortably. This month, I am showing my work
in a major exposition sponsored by the city.
HIGH INCOME
My name is Korasi. Although I was a
successful auto mechanic in Slovenia, I am not
able to practice that profession in France.
Since I came here three years ago, I have
been working as a chef in an Italian restaurant.
I commute over an hour each way to work from
my small room in the suburbs, where rent is
more affordable. I have a minimal amount of
furniture and a small kitchen, but it is a good
life for me as a single man.
HIGH INCOME
I am José. I am from Mexico. I have gone to
private schools all my life and both my parents
are professionals. When I was in high school,
my class did volunteer work in the shantytowns
surrounding my city. Now I am in college
studying economics. I often think back on my
volunteer time. When I finish school,
I want to find a way to help people in the
shantytowns.
HIGH INCOME
My name is Ranjani. I am a 40-year-old
woman living in India with my husband and two
children. I am a doctor and my husband is a
businessman. We live in a very large house
with many servants. My children attend one of
India’s best private schools. They study very
hard and hope to attain entrance into
universities in Canada.
HIGH INCOME
I am Simcha. I own my own postcard
business, selling to tourists who come to see
the ancient city of Jerusalem. I stand on the
sidewalk and sell my cards from 9 a.m. until
midnight, when the last sightseers return to
their hotels. When the economy in North
America and Europe is weak, tourism declines
and I don’t sell as much. I have had some
difficult years, but I have always done well
enough to feed myself. I am fortunate to own
my own business.
HIGH INCOME
My name is Claude. I live in Botswana,
heading the Ministry of Finance. For a few
years, I worked at the World Bank in
Washington, DC, but I came back home to put
my skills to use to improve my country’s
economy. I don’t make as much as I did when I
was working at the World Bank, but compared
to many of my fellow citizens, I lead a very
good and prosperous life.
HIGH INCOME
My name is Shang. I am a 35-year-old
Chinese woman living in the United States.
Ever since I was a young girl I have always
wanted to come to America where there is
political freedom and economic opportunity. In
China, I was fortunate enough to learn English
fairly well and when I came to the United
States I got a job as a clerk in a bank. In my
spare time I volunteer with a non-profit
organization that helps Chinese immigrants get
settled here.
CHARACTERIZATION CARDS
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HIGH INCOME
My name is Maria and I live in Sweden. I am a
nurse at a local community clinic and I enjoy
gardening in my spare time. Most of the
vegetables that I eat come straight from my
own garden. It takes a lot of time to grow my
own food but I think it’s worth it, because then I
know exactly what is in my food. My kids help
me out in the garden too and I am happy to
teach them skills that they will be able to use
for the rest of their lives.
HIGH INCOME
My name is Susan. I am a reporter in
Vancouver but I grew up in Saskatchewan. I
studied journalism at Carleton University in
Ottawa and moved to the west coast after
convocation. In my spare time, I volunteer for an
organization called Farm Folk, City Folk whose
mandate is to get people eating healthy, locally
grown, organic food as much as possible.
Coming from an agricultural province, this work
is especially important to me.
HIGH INCOME
My name is Bernabe Almazan and I live in
Mexico city. I have taken over the family
business from my father. It is an unusual
business. I buy the recycled products from the
middle men who buy from the people collecting
in the garbage dump. I buy from the middle
men because they save me time dealing with
so many individual collectors. There are only
two families who buy from the middle man and
I take what measures I have to ensure that
there is no competition, this keeps the price
high.
HIGH INCOME
My name is Jennifer and I live in Toronto. My
parents are partners in a major law firm. I am
following their career choice and have just
passed the law exams. I will practice law at
their firm and my salary combined with my
husbands will be well over $300,000 per year.
Hunger Banquet Planning Kit
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MIDDLE INCOME
I am Jorge, and I come from the highlands of
Guatemala where there is still a lot of violence
even though the civil war has officially ended.
When the military suspected that communists
lived in my village, they burned many homes,
including mine. I fled to the city, but living
conditions there were terrible. I slept in huts
made of cardboard and rusted car doors or
anything I could find. A few years ago, six of my
neighbours and I received a loan to start a
small carpentry workshop which has been very
successful. Today we have more than 30
employees, and we are self-sufficient.
MIDDLE INCOME
I am Bareded. I am a farmer, and I live in
southern Ethiopia with my family. I never had
an ox until I received a loan of 330 birr ($160)
from a local group. Before, it took 7-8 days to
prepare my land for planting using hand tools.
Now, when I team up with a neighbour who
also has an ox, I can cultivate the same
amount of land in 4-5 hours. This year, I will
plant more land; I expect to grow enough food
to feed my family and have a surplus so I can
pay the first installment on my loan.
MIDDLE INCOME
My Christian name is Lawrence. I live in
Hong Kong in a public housing project with my
parents and eight brothers and sisters. We live
in a 12’ X 12’ room, and we have a refrigerator
and a hot plate on a small adjoining balcony. I
am very fortunate to have received a
scholarship to study law. I look forward to the
day when I will earn a good salary and can
move into an apartment of my own.
MIDDLE INCOME
My name is Mercedes. I am 20 years old and I
live with my parents and siblings in a small
town outside of Quito, Ecuador. My father is a
street vendor who sells a variety of things,
including jewellery and clothing, to tourists. I
help my father and sometimes I go off on my
own to sell in another town. When lots of
tourists come, we make good money, but when
tourism is low, life is very difficult.
MIDDLE INCOME
My name is Siu, and I am 50 years old. I live
in Vietnam where I have been a fisherman my
whole life. I have always worked very hard. I
get up before the sun rises, load my small boat,
and set off as daylight breaks. I am usually
able to catch large amounts of fish to sell to
villagers at the local fish market. I make just
enough money to support my small family.
MIDDLE INCOME
My name is Violet. I am a Jamaican and in the
summers, I work in the tobacco fields in
Ontario. The farmer I work for is really
nice. Unlike some of the other farmers, he
allows visitors on to his property, so my friends
who work on neighbouring farms, can come to
see me in the evening. Usually, I make enough
in the work I do during the Canadian growing
season to support my family for the rest of the
year. This year will be harder because my
family’s house was destroyed in Hurricane
Ivan. Now, most of the money I make will go
toward reconstruction.
MIDDLE INCOME
My name is Andreis. I am a farmer in
Elandskloof, South Africa. Previously apartheid
laws forced everyone in my community to leave
their homes. With the help of the Surplus
People’s Project, we were able to reclaim our
land and start rebuilding our community. We
are dealing with many difficult challenges, but
we look forward to a better future.
MIDDLE INCOME
My name is Rusha, and I live in Mozambique.
Despite legal challenges and a 17-year civil
war, I now own my first piece of land. I was
able to do this with the help of the General
Union of Cooperatives. Having my own land
also gives me more confidence and security.
Hunger Banquet Planning Kit
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CHARACTERIZATION CARDS
MIDDLE INCOME
I am Lorna. I am eleven years old and in sixth
grade at Caswell school in Saskatoon. I live
with my mom. My mom goes to school too. She
is going to be a nurse. I want to be a nurse too
when I grow up. My mom gets loans from the
government to go to school, but it’s not enough
money and it costs her a lot to go to school.
She makes sure that we always have enough
to eat though. My favorite food is spaghetti and
we eat that every Thursday.
MIDDLE INCOME
My name is Dully. I live with my family in India.
Before my mother joined a women’s group, we
had no money to buy medicine when my
brothers and I would get sick. My mother and
her friends talked about problems with their
husbands: they wouldn’t help out at home, they
would spend all their money on themselves, and
sometimes they would be them. But the women
were very brave, and they formed the women’s
group to raise and sell fish. They earn their own
income and the village men’s group cooperates
with them. Sometimes my father even helps
cook dinner.
MIDDLE INCOME
My name is Sophea. I am 21 years old. I left
Saigon to live with a sponsor in North America,
but my dreams of a new life quickly turned into
a nightmare as I realized that my sponsor had
no intention of taking me in. Alone in a strange
country, I got caught up with the wrong crowd.
I began selling drugs because I needed money.
I was arrested and sent to jail for six months. I
learned English in prison, and when I got out, I
went to a local shelter for counselling. I now
have a full-time job, but I still have to sleep in a
night shelter. Someday, I hope to have my own
apartment.
MIDDLE INCOME
My name is Francisco. I am a 40-year-old
man from Mexico. I own a small business
selling flowers. I went to school through fifth
grade and then dropped out because my family
could not afford it. One of my childhood friends
who was able to go to college joined the flower
industry and began to grow his own flowers. He
helped me start my business, and I help him sell
his flowers. Although we help each other out,
life is difficult because our companies are small
and there is a lot of competition out there.
MIDDLE INCOME
I am Rumberto. I run a successful Casa
Particular (Bed and Breakfast) out of my home
in Bayamo, Cuba, lodging and feeding tourists
from all over the world. Although I am paid in
American dollars, which are worth a lot here, I
pay heavy taxes on what I earn. However, it is
still enough for my family and me to get by and
eat well. My son and daughter are grown now
and they both attend University in Havana. He
studies medicine and she is studying
agriculture.
MIDDLE INCOME
My name is Jorge and I am a 48-year-old
farmer from Mexico. For over six months every
year, I leave my family and come to work in a
greenhouse in Southern Ontario. I get paid $7
an hour, but the government takes about a third
of my wages for taxes and employment
insurance premiums. I don’t think it’s fair that I
should have to pay these premiums when I am
not allowed to collect benefits, but I don’t want
to complain. I feel lucky to be able to come to
Canada. Many of my neighbours in Mexico
have no job….at least my family can afford to
eat because of the work I do here.
Hunger Banquet Planning Kit
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CHARACTERIZATION CARDS
LOW INCOME
My name is Gitef and I live in Ethiopia’s Tigray
province. Since my husband was killed in the
Eritrian-Ethiopian conflict several years ago, I
have supported my four children on my own.
Through a program for women-headed
households funded by Oxfam Canada, I have
built a chicken coup and goat house to raise
my own livestock. I have also started to grow
vegetables. All of this allows me to not travel in
search of work. I have also been able to buy
school clothes and supplies for my children for
the first time this year.
LOW INCOME
My name is Hugo. My brother and I sell items
from a Mexico City dump at flea markets in the
city. I don’t make a lot of money, but I’m doing a
lot better than the people who live in the dump.
I feel bad for them, but the more I pay them,
the less I have to live on.
LOW INCOME
My name is Miguel and I live in the Dominican
Republic. I am a sugar farmer working on a
small plantation. Every day, I work 11 hours. I
make very little money, but the work is steady.
My dream is someday to own my own farm, but
I never seem to be able to save enough
money.
LOW INCOME
My name is Robert Pelletier. I live in
Northern Saskatchewan. I am a trapper up
here. I catch otter, seals and other animals. I
sell the fur and meat (and save a little bit to eat
myself). I live on my own, so my income is
adequate to meet my needs, but I don’t have a
lot of extras.
LOW INCOME
My name is Sekayi and I am a 19-year-old
farmer in Zimbabwe. For many years I
struggled just to survive and feed my family
during the drought. The last couple of years,
things have been better. Through Oxfam
Canada’s Emergency Seeds program, I was
given seeds that were most adequate to grow
in this area. The vegetables that I have grown
are also very rich in nutrients so they are good
for my sister and brother-in-law who are very
sick with AIDS. They need good food to keep
living.
LOW INCOME
I am Joseph. I have been working at my job
picking coffee beans for many years. It
provides me with adequate income to feed
myself and my family. I am proud of the work
that I do because I know that people all over
the world enjoy the product of my labour.
LOW INCOME
My name is Ismatullah. I am 16 years old and
work as a shopkeeper in the village of Qadis in
Afghanistan. Prospects for my three-month-old
kiosk don’t look good. Of the 300 shops that
used to be open in the town, only twenty are
still in business. It is hard to see how I’m going
to sell the packs of pasta and bars of Raana
soap.
LOW INCOME
My name is Zabaar Gul. I live in war-torn
Afghanistan with my two sons and two
daughters. Like over 100 families, I left our
village and failed field and have made my
home in a cave near the Oxfam food
distribution centre. I left my Kuzak village a
year ago as we had nothing to eat, but life in
the caves has been just as bleak. My husband
left to earn money in Iran. He broke his arm
and is stuck there, unable to work and unable
to return. My seven-year-old daughter, Zebba,
goes to a nearby village to beg. I am not sure
how long we can last without food.
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Hunger Banquet Planning Kit
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LOW INCOME
My name is Roberto. I am a 40-year-old
Colombian man and I came to America
because of the political oppression in my native
country. When I came, I spoke very little
English, and I lost all my important papers
when I was forced to flee on foot. Someone on
the street told me to come to Boston because
of the great economic opportunities. Through a
local shelter, I have been able to receive food,
medical care, and ESL (English as a Second
Language) courses; all of these have helped
me regain my strength and the will to live after
years of living in poverty. I still do not have
work, but every day I know I’m getting closer
LOW INCOME
My name is Raymond. I am 54 years old, and I
am disabled. I had an accident at work, and I
lost the use of my hands, which greatly affected
me because I have always been a laborer. After
that, I couldn’t get work and I got so depressed I
just drank. My wife told me to quit or get out. I
chose life on the street because I couldn’t quit
drinking. I’m sober now, I go to AA meetings
and everything; I’m even getting my GED. But
the fact remains that no one wants to hire me.
My wife doesn’t want me back, so I’ll probably
stay in shelters unless a miracle happens.
LOW INCOME
My name is Sekayi and I am a 19-year-old
farmer in Zimbabwe. For many years I
struggled just to survive and feed my family
during year after year of drought. The last
couple of years, things have been better.
Through Oxfam Canada’s Emergency Seeds
program, I was given seeds that were most
adequate to grow in this area. The vegetables
that I have grown are also very rich in nutrients
so they are good for my sister and brother-inlaw who are very sick with AIDS. They need
good food to keep living.
LOW INCOME
My name is Zabaar Gul. I live in war-torn
Afghanistan with my two sons and two
daughters. Like over 100 families, I left our
village and failed field and have made my home
in a cave near the Oxfam food distribution
centre. I left my Kuzak village a year ago as we
had nothing to eat, but life in the caves has
been just as bleak. My husband left to earn
money in Iran. He broke his arm and is stuck
there, unable to work and unable to return. My
seven-year-old daughter, Zebba, goes to a
nearby village to beg. I am not sure how long
we can last without food.
LOW INCOME
My name is Ismatullah. I am 16 years old and
work as a shopkeeper in the village of Qadis in
Afghanistan. Prospects for my three-month-old
kiosk don’t look good. Of the 300 shops that
used to be open in the town, only twenty are
still in business. It is hard to see how I’m going
to sell the packs of pasta and bars of Raana
soap.
LOW INCOME
I am Ravi. I belong to an indigenous group in
Gujarat, in western India. Like most people in
this area, I work for the government as a picker.
I am guaranteed protected status by the
government but the reality is that these laws are
not being enforced and discrimination is
rampant. Last year, I attended a rally to press
the government for higher wages and benefits.
We were successful, and my wages were
doubled.
Hunger Banquet Planning Kit
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LOW INCOME
My name is Jean. I belong to an Oxfamfunded peasant organization that works with
poor farmers in Haiti. I am learning how to take
care of the soil so it doesn’t get washed away
and learning how to grow better crops. It is not
easy because we have very poor soil and few
tools to work with, and fertilizer is too
expensive. But I am grateful to be getting
some help. Perhaps things will be better for
my children.
LOW INCOME
I am Liang. I live in northern Vietnam where the
average income in the countryside is less than
$200 per year. I have no land, so I work as a
day labourer and I earn a small income. We
have barely enough to eat and I am able to
provide only a rudimentary education for my
son. I need my daughter to help me out at
home.
LOW INCOME
I am Sana, a 40-year-old Bangladeshi woman.
In this rural area, conservative religious laws
and cultural prejudices limit opportunities for
women. A few years ago, I joined a women’s
group. They helped us start small businesses,
like rice-husking, brick-making, and raising
dairy cows. They also worked with our
community to promote women’s rights. Now
my children are much healthier, and my
husband helps me out at home.
LOW INCOME
I am Xiao, a 30-year-old Cambodian woman
taking care of my husband who is suffering from
tuberculosis. Most of my land has been sold off
to buy medicine, and the government provides
no health services. We are able to produce one
crop of rice on the little land we have left, but
during the dry season we have to borrow rice
from my neighbours.
LOW INCOME
I am Pancho, a young Filipino fisherman from
a long line of fishermen. My family has always
made a decent living in the fishing business,
but my income has gone down as the fish stock
has been overexploited. My family now gets
barely enough to eat.
LOW INCOME
I am Enrique, a 40-year-old man. When the
civil war ended in my home country, Guatemala,
I returned with nearly 130 other families after
living in Mexican refugee camps for many
years. We received very little government
assistance, but we got some help from an
Oxfam-funded group to buy some cows so our
children could have milk. It has been difficult,
but we are determined to make a new start.
LOW INCOME
My name is Deng. I live in Vietnam on a very
small farm. During times of drought, I must
survive on loans from local moneylenders who
charge 30 to 40 percent interest per month.
LOW INCOME
I am Julia. My family and I live in Nicaragua,
where I am part of the 70 percent of the
population that is unable to meet basic human
needs. I make only $430 per year, and my land,
which I use to raise cattle and grow crops, now
lays idle due to government policies which have
decreased small farmers’ access to resources
necessary to work the land. My family now is
barely surviving.
Hunger Banquet Planning Kit
Page 19 of 28
LOW INCOME
My name is Luisa, and I live in Cashiriari,
Peru. I am a member of the Machiguenga
people who have hunted and fished around the
Urubamba River for thousands of years. The
land around my community is being exploited
by an oil company, which has cut down trees
and polluted the water. I live off of the river and
the forest, and I cannot survive if they are
destroyed.
LOW INCOME
My name is Ngongo. I am a 30-year-old
Senegalese woman. I have been seeking a
divorce from my husband who beats me. Laws
and customs discriminate against women in my
country, so it is very hard to find work to support
a family. I am getting help from APROFES, a
local group which gives women credit to start
small businesses and promotes fair treatment of
women.
LOW INCOME
My name is Chang. I am a 50-year-old
Cambodian man. I have had to move many
times because of the civil war that has been
going on in my country for years and years. I
live on property that I have no official title to.
The land around my house is riddled with land
mines that prevent me from farming it.
LOW INCOME
I am Michelle, a 50-year-old Haitian woman.
My livelihood depends on sheep and goat
rearing, which provides just enough for my
family to survive. There are no jobs here, so my
husband must seek work elsewhere; he is away
most of the time. Even so, he makes very little
money, and my children and I miss him.
LOW INCOME
I am Julio, a small farmer in El Salvador. For
many years I grew coffee and sold it to a
wealthy middleman who paid me low prices
and then sold it for a handsome profit.
Recently I joined a cooperative. The
cooperative buys our beans at fair prices,
processes them, and sells them to buyers in
the United States and Europe. By working
together, we are not being exploited and we
are doing much better.
LOW INCOME
I am Anna Pedro, and I live in Mozambique.
My village has suffered from both man-made
and natural disasters, including a recentlyended civil war in my country and a cholera
epidemic that has killed many people. My
neighbours and I joined together to deal with the
cholera problem by building a fence around a
new well drilled by the Mozambican provincial
water service.
LOW INCOME
I am Elizabeth. Years ago, my father grew
corn, yams and mung beans on our land in the
Philippines. I always thought that one day my
children would do the same. Now our land is a
part of a large sugar plantation and we cut
cane for 35 cents a day. My young son works
in the field, but he is very weak because he
doesn’t get enough to eat. I just pray he’ll
survive.
LOW INCOME
My name is Lutfar. I live on the coast of
Bangladesh with my family. We often have
floods and sometimes we have cyclones. One
year thousands of people were killed by a tidal
wave. After that, Oxfam funded the construction
of a cyclone shelter built by the Bangladesh
Rural Advancement Committee. The next time
a cyclone hits, we have a safe place to go. For
now, we use the cyclone shelter as a school
and a community gathering place.
Hunger Banquet Planning Kit
Page 20 of 28
LOW INCOME
My name is Apurba. Being a girl in
Bangladesh means that I cannot go to school;
only my brother is allowed to go to school. I
must stay at home and cook and help my
mother take care of my brother. If my mother
or I go out of the house, we cannot go without
my father or my brother. I would give anything
to be able to go to school.
LOW INCOME
My name is Farida. Our forests in India have
nearly disappeared, and our people have
become nomadic, wandering the earth in search
of water. Our men are always on the lookout for
jobs, which are scarce. Sometimes they must
travel far to find them. The Oxfam America
program here really helped us by building
reservoirs that keep the rain water, so we can
stay. We are now growing vegetables. You
can’t imagine what that means to us women,
and to our community.
LOW INCOME
I am Miguel from the Dominican Republic. I
am a sugar farmer working on a small
plantation. Every day I work for 11 hours. I
make very little money but the work is steady.
My dream is to someday own my own farm, but
I never seem to be able to save any money for
my future.
LOW INCOME
My name is Fauzia, and I live in Bangladesh. I
work very hard in the fields, sometimes for as
many as 14 hours a day, and then I have to
cook dinner for my husband and my son. I
joined a revolving loan group and received a
small loan to buy a cow. Now I have milk for my
son, and I sell the rest. It’s only a little, but my
son is healthier and soon I will be able to take
out another loan.
LOW INCOME
I am Cipriano. I live in the Peruvian Andes
where the climate is very harsh. At an altitude
of 14,000 feet, the air is thin, the sun is strong
and the wind is very powerful. I have five
llamas and I grow potatoes on a terraced,
hillside plot. My llamas are much healthier now
because I got help from the Chuyma Aru
Association, an Oxfam America partner. They
gave me better tools to dig irrigation channels
to water the pasture for my llamas. They also
taught me traditional ways to make fabric from
the llamas’ wool and to sew my own clothes.
LOW INCOME
I am Rebecca. Originally, my husband and
children and I lived in Sudan. We grew our own
food which provided everyone in our village
enough food to eat. When the civil war forced
us to flee to Ethiopia, we lived in a refugee
camp. Our youngest baby died along the way.
The camp fell apart when the Ethiopian
government collapsed, so we went back to
Sudan. Somehow we were able to avoid the
bombs and survive by eating wild plants.
Finally we came across a camp for displaced
people. Life is not easy here, but it is safe. I
pray for the day when the war is over, so we
can return home and live in peace.
Hunger Banquet Planning Kit
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LOW INCOME
My name is Ramon. I live in the highlands of
Bolivia. For years, we indigenous people were
made to feel inferior to other people in Bolivia,
but now, thanks to groups like ISALP, an
Oxfam America partner, we are reviving our
traditional culture and building pride in our
heritage. ISALP is also helping us build
irrigation channels so we can grow more food
and our llamas and alpacas, which we rely on
for food and wool, will be healthier.
LOW INCOME
My name is Miguel. I am a farmworker in
Florida. I typically work 14 hours in the fields
with only a half-hour break for below minimum
wage. I live in company-owned housing, paying
for a place to live that does not even have a
stove or a bed. I am organizing with other
farmworkers to try to improve work conditions
and increase my meager salary, but I fear losing
my job since my employer does not want
farmworkers to unionize.
LOW INCOME
I am Mara, a 25-year-old garment worker in
Cambodia. I moved to Phnom Penh from my
small village to find work after my father died.
My mother and my six brothers and sisters rely
on my income to survive. At the factory I must
reach my target of 120 trousers per hour if I
want to get my monthly incentive bonus of $5/
month. I would like to have kids someday, but I
don’t make enough money to support another
person, and besides, I would get fired from the
factory as soon as they found out I was
pregnant.
LOW INCOME
My name is Halima and I am living in a refugee
camp in Darfur, Sudan. We fled the violence
and came by donkey to get here two weeks
ago. We have four children. Our whole village is
now empty. We were the last to leave. We are
safe here. We can't go home as we are scared
we will be attacked again. Since we arrived
there has been no news of home, but maybe
because there is no one left there. I had a hut
made of straw, that was a nice home. I also had
two guest rooms on my compound for when
friends or family would come to stay. I had a
cow and a calf, and a store-room full of
sorghum. All that has gone now and I have
nothing.
LOW INCOME
My name is Louna and I live in Gonaive, Haiti.
My husband was killed during Hurricane
Jeanne last month. My six children and I,
survived by climbing on a rooftop. At one point
there were eighty of us up there, we could see
many people struggling to stay alive and not
drown…there were many children crying and
women screaming. It was a nightmare. I lost
my house and all my belongings, we only have
the clothes that we are wearing. We are hungry
and … I have nothing to feed the children.
LOW INCOME
My name is Ahmad. I live in a camp on the
Iraq-Syria border. Until a few weeks ago, my
family lived near a headquarters of the security
service. The Americans tried bombing it twice, 7
missiles hit it, and when this started again for
the second time we got really scared. We've
lived through so much - the war with Iran in the
80s, the first Gulf war, now this war. We're very
afraid - not so much for us but for our children.
At least we are safer at this camp, and we have
access to some food and clean drinking water.
Hunger Banquet Planning Kit
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LOW INCOME
My name is Inés and I work on a banana
plantation in Panama. I am a mother of seven
children and it has been really difficult for me to
raise them because of my work. Sometimes I
didn't have anyone to leave my children with;
sometimes I had to leave them shut in a room.
If I didn't do that they could have sacked me.
There were times when the children would get
sick and I would be at work crying. At times I
would ask permission to go and look after
them. They would give me permission, but
when it got to the end of the week and I went
for my wages I didn't have enough money.
Hunger Banquet Planning Kit
LOW INCOME
I am Maria, and I live in Zimbabwe, where the
land is very arid. I can remember many years
when the rains did not come and our crops
withered and died. Recently, a local group
received a grant from Oxfam to build a dam on
the river so we will have clean water yearround. I look forward to the day when I can
have confidence that our crops will grow and
my family will eat well.
Page 23 of 28
CHARACTERIZATION CARDS MENTIONED IN SCRIPT
HIGH INCOME
I am Fred Keller and I am a middle manager
at a large US-based coffee company. I have
worked hard to get where I am. I worked my
way through university studying commerce and
now it is finally starting to pay off. I just bought
a house last spring and I am engaged to be
married next summer. **
MIDDLE INCOME
I am Joseph Mkomo. I have been working at
my job picking coffee beans for many years. It
provides me with adequate income to feed
myself and my family. I am proud of the work
that I do because I know that people all over
the world enjoy the product of my labour. **
LOW INCOME
My name is Lillian Kenyatta. I live in the
same village as Joseph and I make a living
selling maize and other vegetables from my
garden in the local market. **
LOW INCOME
My name is Theresa Sanchez.
In an effort to improve her and Tomas’
circumstances I have secured employment in a
maquilladora sewing sports apparel for
Canadian Universities. I feels very lucky
because it is one of the few factories that pays
a decent wage and allows a union to protect
the workers’ rights. Although I am now able to
earn a decent wage my job comes with a high
price. The maquilla is located 7 hours North of
Mexico City so I am unable to see my family. I
am trying to find Tomas a job but there aren’t
many, but I have not lost hope.**
.
Hunger Banquet Planning Kit
Page 24 of 28
GOOD LUCK AND HAVE FUN!!!
For help in organizing a hungry4change Hunger Banquet
contact the National Fundraising Office
Email [email protected]
Call 1-800-GO-OXFAM
www.oxfam.ca
Hunger Banquet Planning Kit
Page 25 of 28