Students at Franklin College become world humanitarians with their Hope for the Horn efforts.
After the disastrous devastation in West and Central Africa coming from failed harvest, regional instability, and soaring food prices families in the horn of Africa are fighting to survive. According to CARE.org, a leading humanitarian organization that fights against global poverty, some 13 million people are at risk from a food crisis.
A group of students from an introduction to personal leadership class made it their mission to become global citizens and humanitarians and bring awareness to the Franklin College community in hopes to further help the horn of Africa.
Senior and group member Destiny Esper urged the group to make the horn of Africa their primary focus for their classroom change project. With a major in Journalism (Public Relations) and a related studies field of PanAfrican studies, Destiny says the idea is something she thought of and brought to the group because she considers herself a global citizen.
“It’s an area of the world that needs a lot of help,” Destiny said.
The group developed different programs to put on for Franklin College students to bring awareness to this cause. The group’s two most successful events were Deprive to Survive and Seek Refuge.
The success of Deprive to Survive came from over 80 students and faculty members pledging to give up a meal for the day or donating the monetary amount to equal a meal in the cafeteria. Seek Refuge was a program where mock refuge camps were set up around campus and participants were moved from one place to another, forced to remain silent to depict the real-life situation of people who live in the horn of Africa.
Another group member Brandon Walker says that the Seek Refuge program was successful because the participants were very cooperative and understanding of the program dynamics. “They put themselves in the mentality that they really were refugees,” Brandon said.
Destiny says that people should care because what happens in the horn happens to us. “It can easily happen to us. We hope that students become more aware and globally conscience,” said Destiny.
“We preach awareness. We’re here bringing the word to campus, to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and see what you can do from there,” said Brandon.
The group will also be selling Hope for the Horn t-shirts on Tuesday, April 17thin the Student Center for $5 in hopes to raise additional money. All proceeds raised will be donated to the United Nations World Food Program or CARE.
For additional information about how to get involved with these global efforts visit http://www.care.org/index.asp.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Franklin chapter.