By Oyinkansola Awosika

Oxfam America UMD hosted its annual Hunger Banquet in Maryland Hillel Dec. 4.

The purpose of the program, which was co-sponsored by Maryland Dining Services, National Residence Hall Honorary and Maryland Hillel, was to spread awareness about the issue of global hunger and food insecurity as a part of MaryPIRG’s Hunger Week.

The banquet began with each attendant receiving a slip of paper that assigned them to one of three groups – low income, middle income or high income.

High income group members were seated at a table in the center of the room and represented 20 percent of the world’s population with the highest per capita income. Members of this group earned a minimum yearly income of $7,756 but some earned a lot more than that.

“Most of you [in the high income group] are lucky enough to be able to eat a nutritious diet every day,” said Danie Stewart, Oxfam UMD co-president. “Because some of you even exceed you daily requirement of calories, you’re likely to face health issues such as heart disease and diabetes. The good news is that many of you have access to the best medical care in the world.”

This group had access to education, housing and job security that others could not enjoy. At dinner, high income earners were served a nutritionally balanced meal of beans, rice, a bread roll, and a healthy green salad.

Middle income group members were seated in chairs that were lined up around the perimeter of the room and represented roughly 30 percent of the world’s. Members of this group earned between $1,989 and $7,756 annually. The levels of access to food and security vary greatly for them. For many, a serious illness or a drought would result in poverty for them and their family.

Additionally, middle income earners were unlikely to own any land and could only afford a few years of schooling for their children. These individuals may have left families to find work as sweatshop workers or domestic help in the city hoping that these sub-minimum wage jobs will provide an opportunity for upward mobility. Members of this group were allowed to help themselves to plates of beans and rice.

Lastly, low income group members were seated on the floor in the front of the room. These individuals represent the majority of the world’s population with an income that is less than $1,989 annually, which is under $5.50 a day. However, many members of this group make much less than that, said Nafi Mondal, director of service for the National Residence Hall Honorary University of Maryland Chapter.

“Every day is a struggle to meet your family’s basic needs. Finding food, water, shelter, can often times consume your entire day,” he said.

Low income earners are very unlikely to ever have access to an education and adequate healthcare. Their housing structures are poor and unequipped to handle even strong gusts of wind. Early death among this group is common as is infant and child mortality.

Women in this group are tasked with carrying the burden of hunger for the whole family.

“For many of you women, it will not be uncommon to have to walk five or ten miles every day to get water, spend several more hours working the fields, and, of course, take care of the children,” said Mondal. “And when food is scarce, you’ll have to eat less so that other family members can get some.”

Low income earners were given a foil pan of white rice that they shared amongst themselves. Men were to dish their portions first and women were to do so only after everyone else was fed.

Banquet attendees were also assigned the name and life of real people who experienced the circumstances that were being simulated. One of them was Serena, a Bangladeshi mother of two, who built a home with her husband, a fisherman, on a “narrow strip of shore between a local river and the bay of Bengal,” said Stewart. Though this was dangerous place to build a house, it was the only land they could afford.

“Then a cyclone hit; Serena managed to save one of their three cows but she and her husband lost nearly everything else during the storm including their house and the fishing boat that they relied on to earn a living.”

Another real-life example, Pablo, was born in Ecuador to middle income earning parents. His parents could only afford his education through eighth grade. He began working at an oil company as a teenager where he witnessed his colleagues being treated unfairly and the environment being destructed said Malika Bai, Oxfam UMD co-president.

“It was hard for him not to speak up about what he saw but he knew that if he made trouble he might lose his job and his family was relying on him,” she added.

Maniza Habib, a sophomore neurophysiology major, attended last year’s hunger banquet to support her friend who is part of Oxfam and returned because she thought it was a good experience.

“It’s really uncomfortable to see how stratified [incomes are] and have that sort of visual representation of that in a room and it being so interactive,” Habib said. “It makes you feel weird and that there’s so much inequality and seeing it directly like spread out in this way. Also…the feeling of you get when you’re in the lower class and the higher class offers you food and you say no because your dignity is more important than that.”

Sofia Castellano, a sophomore psychology major who also came to support her friend said that she valued the event.

“I thought it was very impressive actually. I didn’t know what to expect. I had never been to one before,” she said. “I think it was very valuable how they assign you different characters and allow you to connect with one single story.”

Castellano was assigned the role of a man who was middle income but was pushed into lower income due to flooding.

“Even just like my disappointment within just the hunger banquet just shows what it might actually feel like to somebody who had been working so hard,” Castellano said. “He was supposed to be the best farmer in the area but that was just taken away from him by conditions that he had no control over.”

The simulation was particularly touching to Aasheen Qadri, a senior physiology and neurobiology major, who is a first-generation immigrant.

“Personally, my parents did immigrate to this country and they had to work for that typical American dream,” said Quadri, who is also the secretary of Oxfam UMD. “They didn’t come from upper class backgrounds at all in their native countries so I think that just kind of made me reflect on how…the hard work of my parents has given me the privilege that I have now to be so comfortable in terms of hunger. Like that’s not even a problem that I have to think about which is such a blessing.”

Bai, who is also a senior public health science major, said the main goal of the Hunger Banquet was for people to feel empowered and inspired by the stories they hear which are based on real experiences. In addition, she hopes that this event spreads awareness and motivates students to learn more.

“I would like people to go home, research this information, research the global refugee crisis, and just know that this is real [and] come up with your own…understanding of the issue,” said Bai. “Then look into how you can help, whether it’s by joining our organization or getting an internship on the hill working with representatives that are looking at these issues…really understand who is doing what and how these policies are actually affecting people on the ground.”