It's the Hunger Games, but not as you know it.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In a spin on the iconic World Vision 40 Hour Famine, students at Hunter Valley Grammar School have organised a relay encouraging young people to walk three laps of the school oval to raise money for people living in Rwanda.
The relay is the brainchild of Maddy Boyd, Lewis Drayton, Kristina O'Brien and Grace Logvyn, four students who attended a leadership camp run by World Vision.
“As part of the camp we were educated about world issues and basically the influence we can have on a global community here in the Hunter Valley,” Maddy, 17, said.
As part of their training the students were introduced to the story of a little, malnourished boy named Promesse.
“Personally, I found this story very moving and it was just so upsetting to see that people have to live like that,” Lewis, 15, said.
“So the four of us wanted to make a difference and to make people aware of what's going on in the world.”
In Rwanda, up to 43 per cent of children younger than five years are chronically malnourished and almost 19 per cent suffer from
malnutrition in its most severe form.
“If it wasn't for where we were born then it could be us over there in places like Rwanda and that's what really gets me,” Kristina, 15, said.
“We have the ability to make such a difference because we are so privileged to go to this school and we have food on the table every night.”
Grace, 17, echoed these sentiments.
“It's easy for us to be exposed to these issues but to actually act upon it is a lot harder. But we can't ignore these issues or say we don't know about them.”
* The Hunter Valley Grammar School 40 Hour Famine relay will be held on August 28.