By LOIS HASSELL
Lois@newsroom.byu.edu
Those attending the hunger banquet hosted by Students for International Development will experience what it is like to eat as a member of a First, Second or Third World country.
Of the 500 people expected to attend either Thursday or Friday night, March 16-17, 12 percent will eat like those in a First World country, 23 percent will eat like those in a Second World country. The 65 percent remaining will eat like those who live in a Third World country.
'It has been amazing for me to see how people react when placed in the Third World and have to eat like that for only one meal. Imagine what it would be like in a whole nation like that,' said Dan Nelson, 25, a senior majoring in organizational behavior from Martinez, Calif. Nelson is co-president of SID under the David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies.
The banquet will be held in the step-down lounge of the Smith Family Living Center.
As well as a representative eating experience, there will speakers each night.
Thursday night's speaker, Francois Rutagarama, is a recent former Rwandan political prisoner who will speak on how his experiences have taught him the importance of developing human resources as a means of sustainable development.
'I can tell you about suffering. I can tell you about hunger. I went 21 days without food. We were given water occasionally, but very little,' Rutagarama said. Rutagarama is a member of the Tutsi tribe in Rwanda and now lives in Syracuse, N.Y. with his nine children.
Friday night's speaker will be Elder Marion D. Hanks, emeritus member of the First Quorum of the Seventy.
Due to generous community donations, 100 percent of the money the hunger banquet will raise will go directly to the organizations SID has chosen to help.
At last year's Hunger Banquet, Students for International Development was able to donate funds to Water for People, Laubach Literacy, and the Asociacion de Las Mujeres de la Caridad.
The Hunger Banquet will host two speakers and three bands. Tickets can be bought at 273 Clark Building for $5 in advance and $6 the night of the banquet. The banquet will be held in the step-down lounge of the Smith Family Living Center.