Well, let's see, where to begin...quite a busy last week for me, really. Of course, it all started early Thursday morning with seven of us all piled into one of the school vans and made our way towards Grand Rapids for the weekend. Having gone to FIDC (Faith and International Development Conference) last year as well, I was able to compare the two years...and this one was even better! We had the priviledge of hearing from several amazing speakers about global partnerships and what that means, and issues of social justice (convenient, considering I want to hopefully get a career somewhere in that area). Besides the main speakers that everyone attended, there were also smaller workshops that one could attend in more of a classroom setting, and each one of this 'break-out' times had about fifteen to twenty different options to go to.
As for me, I headed towards the 'State of Children Internationally' by World Vision and 'Justice Served' by Hope International. The first break-out discussed how World Vision is moving and working across the globe to stabilize areas that need help, and make a suitable environment for the children there before handing the reigns back over to the local people rather than letting the organization run it forever - which I think is a good thing. The second break-out was even more intriguing, with two missionaries that spoke about the truth of modern-day slavery around the world, what the Bible says about this issue, and the best way to go about solving it depending on who you are and what situation you are in.
One of the most moving and enlightening parts of the conference, however, was the Breaking of the Bread meal on Thursday night for supper. When we entered, each of us was given a sealed envelope that either had a red, yellow, or blue sticker on it. As we made our way into the cafeteria, we were split up into different sections based on this color, and then were able to read the information inside the envelope. I was in the red group, which meant that I represented the middle-class population of the world. Yellow ended up being the lower-class, and blue was the upper-class. The amount of people in each group was proportionate to the percentages of each class in today's world.
In the envelope, there was information on the average income of middle-class people around the world, and what this meant for them. There were also 'reality checks,' or small sheets of paper that represented money that we would have. As a middle-class citizen, I had $14 for the day. When the meal actually started, we had to take our 'money' and go through different lines to purchase our meals. Being middle-class, I was too poor to be able to afford the main course meal that the people in the blue group were able to eat, so I purchased a meal made of rice and beans. I was also lucky enough to have a few dollars left over that I could get a drink with.
Almost directly after I purchased my drink, an announcement was made that there was a global food crisis, and the prices of everything had gone up. I was lucky to have already gotten my food before this turn of events. I began to search for the other people I had come with from Waynesburg, two of which were in the yellow group and one in the blue to see what they had been able to get. My two friends in the yellow, Nicole and Bethany, were able to purchase nothing more than a corn-soy porridge that World Vision commonly uses for refugees, and they could not even get a drink. However, my friend in the blue group, Chris, had been able to afford a regular meal, a drink, and dessert, even with the crisis.As we sat together and ate our respective meals, it really sunk in the difference between the lower class, left to eat barely anything (and the porridge really tasted bad, I could not resist trying some) while the upper-class eats normal, good, and plentiful food only a few inches away. We also read true stories about impoverished people around the globe (my story came from Russia) that just made the reality of what we were experiencing sink in deeper. Yes, it was a fun experience - but it was also an eye-opening one at the same time.
Oh - there was snow there. That's right. Lots of it. Happily, it actually didn't snow at all while we were there, so I was pleased about that, but there was around six inches of snow covering the entire campus already, and iciciles that were probably two to three feet long hanging from the buildings. Let's just say I was glad that I had my boots with me.
Another great experience from the FIDC actually had nothing to do with the conference itself - rather, it was just the chance to live with a total stranger for a few days in someone else's dorm. Nicole and I were assigned the same room with a girl named Aly, and she instantly opened up her door and her heart to us, letting us basically take over her dorm room for three days, use her computer and her TV, and even eat her food! She showed us where we needed to go on campus, and was just generally a great friend, making both of us feel extremely welcome from the moment we got there. It was great to feel at home when we were in reality eight hours away from it.However, the fun and work for my week was not over just because I came back to Waynesburg. WORLD International Student Organization, my club, was hosting an Ethnic Food Fair on Tuesday that would be open to the entire campus. We were to make foods from our own ethnic backgrounds, or just countries that we had been to, for the other people at Waynesburg to sample if they wanted to. Last year, myself and another WORLD member made two German dishes, considering we were both German.
This year, however, I offered to help my friend Chris make two dishes. Chris is an exchange student from Northern Ireland, so of course, we made Irish food. First, we made a stew that was actually from a recipe his mother sent him (that's how we know it's authentic!) and then we made a dessert called Banoffee, which is a sort of cold banana and toffee pie. The Banoffee ended up lasting a whole glorious five minutes or so when the food fair opened - understandable, because it really did taste absolutely amazing. There were also a lot of Korean dishes both from our Korean exchange students at the campus as well as from two Waynesburg students that studied there last semester, a Russian dish, a few Mexican dishes, and even a dish from Khazakstan! The food fair was busy the entire time I was there, and I was glad that so many people on campus were willing to step outside of their comfort zones for a few minutes and try something completely different.
Overall - it was another successful week of college life at Waynesburg University! Until next week, stop by again for more ridiculous ramblings and strange stories! Going to a Korean church service this Sunday with WORLD, so I will be sure to post about that as well as any other things that may happen along the way.
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