St Edmund Welcomes the World
January 1, 2013
Hunger Games Illuminate Disparity of Resources
The new school year brought the world into the halls and classrooms of St Edmund School.
Our International Baccalaureate Program aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. One of our IB and Social Justice initiatives focuses on global health and food security issues in communities here and around the world.
September welcomed 17 year old Tony Zelaya and Indigenous Miskito Leader Primitivo Centeno from BOSAWAS, Nicaragua through local organization Change For Children. Their presentation spoke to today’s challenges faced by the 32,000 Indigenous people who call the rainforest home.
October saw Dr Geoffrey Anguyo and Robert Kakuru from SW Uganda as they captivated students with personal stories of struggle regarding poor nutrition, lack of access to clean water, problems around food security, climate change, increasing numbers of HIV/Aids cases and a lack of Doctors and Dentists in the area. Their inspiring talk clearly showed they have a dream for a better future and that together that dream can come true.
We continue to reinforce the learning experience and work on solutions through ongoing special announcements in the morning and activities such as our first ever Hunger Games. Partnering with Change For Children, we divided grade 7 and 8 students into 6 countries- Uganda, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Bolivia- all of which currently have CFC supported projects. The 6th country was Canada so that a comparison of resources could be made with countries in the Global South. Our objective was to challenge our students to define and learn about food security with hands on activities.
Set up as a relay race, Canada had a 2 minute head start; the goal was to collect their “Food Supply” to meet the minimum energy intake of 1800 calories per day from their local market. Fake money was issued according to daily income and jelly beans were used to separate food groups. Some developing countries wore backpacks on the front to symbolize a pregnant woman having to do this hard work. Every country faced a “Climate Change Challenge” and had to complete a physical activity before moving on to the finish line. The winner was Canada, they were able to collect and pay for food in all food groups. Students then had to identify challenges to food security by writing comments or drawing images.
Examples of comments made:
“Some countries can’t afford what they need.”
“I suffered because I didn’t get protein.” “So little food only 1000 calories.”
“Figuring out what to buy to get the most out of my money”
“It’s very hard to travel to get my food and to grow crops when there is a drought.”
Brenda McDonald is a passionate Change for Children supporter and volunteer. She is also a transliterator for Edmonton Catholic Schools and a member of the St Edmund Social Justice Committee. Rita is a Teacher in Soccer Academy, the IB Coordinator and member of St Edmund Social Justice Committee.
Change for Children offers tangible opportunities for schools to actively participate in global justice – visit Tools for Schools for resources and topics.