Empowering Women Worldwide: The Hunger Project on Campus, FeelGood

Life Before The Hunger Project

Every morning while the rest of their villages are still fast asleep, women around the world wake up to gather stacks of firewood and fill barrels of water for their families.

After carrying the heavy loads on their backs and heads, they prepare breakfast and get their sons ready for school. While the young men learn to read and write, their illiterate mothers and sisters work in fields to grow what little food they can for their families. The men sit in village council meetings to make important decisions, yet the women are rarely, if ever, asked for their opinions.

This life is typical for many women around the world. That is, until The Hunger Project (THP) steps in. THP is a global, non-profit organization that looks past simply distributing food to starving people. Instead, its volunteers teach villages to become self-sufficient and empower women and the men around them, teaching them to eradicate hunger on their own in a sustainable and resilient way.

How The Hunger Project Helps

“We help communities gain security by changing a woman’s role from housewife and mother—to partner, provider, and leader,” says Jill Lester, CEO and President of THP. “That’s what true empowerment is.”

In 2004, Kristin Walter was a student at the University of Texas, where she helped start an organization to collect money for THP. After six months of grilled cheese fundraisers, the organization—called FeelGood—had raised over $10,000.

“THP is unique because while they empower women, they also identify with the men and help them come to terms with the women in their lives,” Walter says. “Women care the most about health, children, and the environment,” she says, “but they remain voiceless because of laws and restrictions from their cultures.”

It’s no coincidence that there is a direct correlation between how women are treated and the well-being of their communities. According to its website, THP seeks to end world hunger through “mobilizing village clusters at the grassroots level to build self-reliance, empowering women as key change agents, and forging effective partnerships with local government.”

They now have more than 315,000 trained volunteers worldwide. In Africa, more than 100 clusters of villages have started to generate income and use it toward building classrooms, food storage units, and healthcare buildings. In India, THP started a Women’s Leadership Workshop that has helped 71,000 women become elected into local councils. In Bangladesh, they formed organizations that plan 800 events across the country each September to celebrate National Girl Child Day. Throughout these countries, upwards of 840,000 people have taken the HIV/AIDS and Gender Inequality Workshop designed to promote healthy lifestyles and a balance between the sexes.

FeelGood on Campus

When Walter graduated five years ago, she didn’t want FeelGood to stop at the University of Texas. She became the executive director of the organization, which now has 21 branches on college campuses across the country. According to Walter, “FeelGood is tapping into the youth’s ability to make a change.”

No FeelGood chapter on your campus? Start one! Find out if your campus already has one or launch your own through the online manual at FeelGoodWorld.org. University of Illinois Chicago senior Frank Lee started a chapter two years ago. He heard about FeelGood and THP through some friends at other schools and decided UIC needed one, too.

“It’s not about throwing money at [those in need.] It’s about helping them become self-sustainable and making an impact instead of giving out charity,” he says.

Using hunger banquets, trivia nights, sports tournaments and of course, the grilled cheese distributions, Lee’s FeelGood chapter raises money throughout the academic year. While all their proceeds go toward THP, they are also helping to spread the word about ending chronic hunger. “It’s not just a sandwich,” he says, “It’s a way to get in touch with people.”

Other ways to help

So you don’t have a FeelGood chapter on your campus, and you might not have the time or resources to start your own. What else can you do?

According to Walter, “Hunger is not a problem to be solved, but an opportunity to be revealed.” Lester agrees. She suggests we spread the word by blogging, writing papers or articles, and speaking with friends.

815 million people are chronically hungry. 1.2 billion live on less than $1 per day. Every five seconds, one child dies from hunger-related problems. The issues of chronic hunger may seem overwhelming and certainly dismal. They don’t have to be.

“THP is about joy,” Lester says. “It is about the joy people feel when they can look after their families and satisfy their needs. When they can provide for themselves and solve their own hunger problems, they are joyous—they are happy.”

Sources:

Frank Lee, Founder of FeelGood at University of Illinois Chicago: flee7@uic.edu

Kristin Walter, Founder of FeelGood: Kristin@feelgoodworld.org

Jill Lester, CEO and President of THP: aha@thp.org

FeelGoodWorld.org

THP.org