Hold Your Hunger: fighting hunger together
Here, in The Netherlands, most people are lucky enough not to know the feeling of real hunger. Worldwide, some eight hundred million people know the feeling all too well. Universities Fighting World Hunger (UFWH) is an international partnership of universities and universities of applied sciences to fight that hunger. NHL Stenden organised the third 'Hold Your Hunger' action this past June because of it.
"Today, we produce more food on our planet than is needed to feed everyone", Jenniffer Penn says. Besides an English teacher, she's also NHL Stenden's coordinator for UFWH. "So the United Nations goal of banishing hunger in 2030 is certainly achievable. But to do so, we have to take action." Hold Your Hunger helps. This initiative was originally devised by NHL Stenden Event Management students in 2017. They motivated as many fellow students as possible to fast for twelve hours straight, and stay awake for one night. That way, they drew attention to the world's hunger problem. They also collected money from sponsors to help the Port Alfred Soup Kitchen in South Africa.
All campuses at once
In the following years, the event spread. In 2018, students of the South African NHL Stenden campus joined Hold Your Hunger. During the third edition, in the night between 13 and 14 June 2019, it had become a joint action by all campuses of the university (of applied sciences): in The Netherlands, Thailand, Qatar, South Africa, and Bali. The group of people involved in Hold Your Hunger now consisted of about three hundred students, volunteers, and employees. "It was just great to see all these different locations collaborate on fighting global hunger", Marie Hartmann, president of the UFWH student association, says. "For me, it was a highlight of this academic year."
Special soup
In Leeuwarden, Hold Your Hunger 2019 lasted the longest, from one o'clock in the afternoon till seven o'clock in the morning. Before the event, participants gathered to eat a special soup. One of the students' grandmother used to make this soup during the Second World War in Indonesia when there was a lot of hunger. Made from potato peels and other food waste from their local dump, hungry locals would gather to eat this soup. Last July 14th, this woman would've become a hundred years old.
Live stream and fun activities
After this lunch, the event started. There was a live stream between the different locations, and they had all sorts of activities, like quizzes, yoga, and lectures by guest speakers on relevant themes. The campuses held a riddle contest. In Leeuwarden, they had also organised a talent show with local artists. Friends, families, and other interested parties could join the event by buying a ticket. The ticket sales revenue was donated to charity. During the last part of Hold Your Hunger, students helped each other through the night. "For me, fasting wasn't the biggest challenge", Leo Oegema remembers. As an Event
Management student, he was one of the organisers of the event. "Staying up all night, that was a lot tougher! But with games, dance, and music, we continually cheered each other up. At seven o'clock, all of us were euphoric about reaching the finish line together."
Seven thousand meals
Three of the campuses held a fundraiser: in Leeuwarden (for the Port Alfred Soup Kitchen and the Townships Foundation), Qatar (for Qatar Charity), and South Africa (for the Port Alfred Soup Kitchen). Totalling €9,250, the Port Alfred Soup Kitchen received €5,500, which allowed them to gift over seven thousand meals. "This contribution means a world of difference for a lot of poor people we help", the South African institution wrote in a grateful letter. The Townships Foundation will use the received money for improving healthy nutrition at schools.
Increasingly larger steps
Thanks to the enormous success of Hold Your Hunger, the event keeps growing. Next year, the plan is to enroll as many universities and universities of applied sciences of UFWH's three hundred universities as possible. Since a lot of them have their summer break in June, the latest edition is planned for 16 October 2020: World Food Day. Hartmann: "There is a large global network of UFWH student associations. I hope they will join our initiative to match this year's great results with their university or university of applied sciences. That way, we will take increasingly larger steps to a hunger-free 2030."
More information on UFWH? Send an email to ufwh@nhlstenden.com.
