This semester we have had many educational activities; from teamwork and leadership to hunger and poverty across the globe. All of these workshops have taught me (and the rest of the cast) a great deal, and none more so then the “Hunger Banquet” we had in Zell, Germany. The day began with a walk to some castle ruins. Once we arrived at the castle we looked around and enjoyed a few moments free time. We were then called together to begin the activities that ended with the “Hunger Banquet.”

We started with a game. Euro pennies were thrown into the middle of our circle of people. A few members of the cast were blindfolded to represent disadvantaged people. We were then told to collect as many pennies as possible. We all made a mad dash (sound similar to real life???). In the end we were lined up according to how many pennies we had collected; one, two… five, and were given papers representing a person of either high, middle or low class. They also took note of those who donated pennies to those who had none. We walked back down the mountain and enjoyed a presentation by a monk of the local Monastery. After our brief talk with the monk we walked to another part of the monastery where we were invited inside.

Once inside, the room was sectioned off in to three sections; high, middle and low. We sat were our papers we received earlier told me to sit. The high class had a luxuriously set table with candles and nice plates, etc. Middle class were given only seats and low class were told to sit on the floor. After we were all seated Jared (our lighting technician, with a huge heart for the topic of poverty) gave a presentation on poverty across the globe. He gave statistics and helped to paint a picture of just how real and devastating the issue of poverty and hunger really is. About two thirds of the way through the presentation, servers began to bring the upper class citizens there first course. It was distracting and smelled wonderful, and the rest of us continued to try and pay attention while they enjoyed the food.

Once Jared finished his wonderful presentation, the rest of us were brought our dinner. The middle class was given rice and beef and some water. The lower class was given rice which we ate on paper plates without utensils, and salt water. We were also asked to not disturb the other classes. We read some of our character sheets aloud to compare the different types of people and what classified them as high, middle or low class. It was heart breaking to read some of the lower class people. It really brought to life the reality and the severity of this issue. We all were given a lot to think about as we compared where we were sitting to where we really are in life. We are all middle to high class citizens in real life, and those of us placed in the lower class sector where quite taken aback by the stark difference. Those in the upper class sector said that they felt guilty eating when the rest of us weren’t. It was an emotional workshop that really hit home and caused many of us to rethink how we live. I felt that I had much to be grateful for after this workshop, and much that I wanted to change, and I know the rest of the cast felt the same.