By Sidney Lenz
(Editor’s Note: On Nov. 29, the middle school students at Seattle Christian School in SeaTac participated in a 24-hour famine to raise money for famine relief in East Africa.
Sidney Lenz, a seventh-grade student in teacher Matt Althoff’s class, wrote this article about the experience.)
24-hour Famine
Every twelve seconds, a child in the Horn of Africa dies from hunger related causes. Hundreds of children suffer from stunted growth, illness, and lack of energy.
The devastation from hunger affects many in that region of the world from the smallest child to a mother who has to watch her child suffer.
Last week the middle school students at Seattle Christian and I fasted voluntarily for twenty-four hours. We did this to raise awareness of starving people in Africa. We also did this to raise money for them.
About halfway through the day, I felt hungry. The famine was difficult for me, but it made me think more of the kids who feel every day.
The first activity of the famine was a chapel service with a speaker from World Vision. He told us a story of two African girls named Lucianna and Faucia.
Lucianna was hungry for her whole life. Because of that, when she was six she was the size of a three year old. World Vision found her and rushed her to an emergency hunger care center. Before they got to their destination, Lucianna died.
Faucia was also hungry all of her life. She was very thin when World Vision found her. When they did they tended to all her needs immediately.
The funds we raised from the 24-hour famine go to children like Lucianna and Faucia to help prevent more children ending up like Lucianna. I also learned that three million people die of hungry related causes each year.
During the time when we usually had lunch we had a silent reflection time. It gave us time to think about everything that we had learned and even new ways to raise more money.
It made me think more about what was happening in the Horn of Africa and what I could do to help. As I sat there in silence my thankfulness grew for everything that I have.
That last event of the famine was a home basketball game for our boys’ high school varsity team.
During the game we were planning to do a freeze. At the half time buzzer, all the middle school students who were in the gym would freeze in place. We would hold that position for two minutes with the goal of drawing attention to ourselves to get people curious about what we were doing.
When the buzzer went off, everyone who was in on it froze. When we unfroze we handed out small information sheets to people explaining why we did the freeze.
At a donation table we had set up there was a poster we had made that day with 11,000 thumb prints. 11,000 is the number of children under five who die every day from hunger related problems.
We fasted for 24 hours, knowing when we would get to eat again. Children all over the world don’t know when their next meal will come. Children lose their friends, family, and sometimes even their lives from hunger. But these losses are preventable. We can help. My classmates and I collected over $1200 in donations. With that money, World Vision can help make a child’s life better.
