My plan moving forward is to bring more awareness to the Humanities 101 fund through my job at UBC Annual Giving. Rather than promote Faculty-specific bursary funds, I will highlight the importance of Humanities 101 to alumni and hope they see the significant role education can play in eradicating world hunger. Similarly, as the loan I gave out will eventually be returned to me, I will re-lend these funds to someone new, who also has a desire to be educated. This assignment will remind me of my responsibility in ending the world hunger cycle and it is through this knowledge that I hope to inspire others to help as well.

The most important thing I have learned by doing this assignment is the significance of education in all contexts. The single most important concept I’ve come to recognize is that one cannot end world hunger in one step; rather, it is a lifelong process that we must be continuously addressing. The problem is not alleviated by simple actions that only temporarily fix the enduring problem. Rather, the problem as a whole must be taking into consideration and the very core of said problem must be addressed. Support through education and access to such is considered the core of world hunger. Education gives those at risk a better chance of obtaining a job and overcoming their circumstance of poverty and hunger. In retrospect, if I had donated to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society, it may have only been a temporary fix to the cycle of poverty. By addressing education needs, I believe that it is a more permanent and lasting effect that will not only aid the individual, but the community around them and society as a whole.

Although my actions were not significant, the contributions I made will go on to help two individuals. For Humanities 101, the cost per student is $600.00/ year; this number is increased to $2500.00 per year for a single mother, due to the cost of childcare. Similarly, the loan being sought after on Kiva was $2000.00 in total; this sum was required to finance school expenses such as books, stationary, transportation and basic fees. As you can see, the contributions I have made are small compared to the total amount that is required to fully meet the fund. Despite this, I believe that if everyone gives a little it can make a big difference. Collectively, small donations do add up. Therefore, I do believe that I made a difference in eradicating world hunger. My efforts will go towards an individual’s education and my greatest hope is that one-day, they will pass it forward as well.

In order to help stop world hunger, I donated $35.00 to the organization Kiva, which permitted to me to loan $25.00 to a woman in Lebanon who was seeking an education. Additionally, I donated $15.00 to the Humanities 101 fund of UBC.

My donations will make a small impact by contributing to two funds directed towards education. It is my hope that my actions will help individuals escape poverty by developing resourceful skills needed to improve their work and living standards. I also believe that it will yield a positive productivity of this population, that will eventually stimulate economic growth. The EFA Global Monitoring report stated that for every $1.00 spent on education, between $10-15.00 would be generated in economic growth (Farah, 2007). Additionally, there is a widespread consensus that the issue of malnutrition is a large problem for the homeless. Studies have shown that although homeless people were able to obtain enough food, they had a low dietary adequacy score, which suggested that although the quantity of food requirements were met, the quality of their diets were inadequate (Champaner et al., 2009). A study conducted that looked at the nutrition knowledge of the homeless and subsequently, the nutritional value of their food selection, showed that improvements were made after they received education (Champaner et al., 2009). For example, participants demonstrated improved nutrition knowledge about “which food has the most calories.” In the pre-test of such question, only 33% of participants were correct, compared to the 63% that were correct in the post-test.  Based on the above knowledge, we can see that education becomes an essential investment.

While we can see the benefits that would arise from either donations, both actions do have limitations. For example, there is no guarantee that a student enrolled in Humanities 101 will complete the course. In the program’s inaugural year in 1998, 25 students were admitted into the course, but only 17 completed it. External (or internal) issues could arise that may cause a student to drop out of the program. As the number of applicants exceeds the number of available spots increasingly, the funds raised can go towards another student. Another limitation garnered to my second action, which was donating to Kiva, arises when regions have experienced natural disasters. It is often found that these disasters limit a person’s ability to pay a loan in the near future. Kiva provides a timeline for all loanees that outlines when you can be expected to be paid back. Despite these limitations, I believe that both actions will positively contribute to the eradication of world hunger.

Literature Cited

Champaner, E., Myung, E., McCool, A., & Johnson, L. (2009). Nutrition education for homeless women – challenges and opportunities: A pilot study. Journal of Foodservice Business Research, 12(2), 155-169.

Farah, I. (2007). Education for all global monitoring report, literacy for life. Oxford: Taylor & Francis Ltd. 

This assignment started off as disheartening, but gradually became more rewarding. I felt paralyzed when witnessing the man run from the grocery store; I was eventually overcome with a deep desire to help in whatever capacity I could. I believe that prior to this assignment, I would not have had a similar reaction. I may have been quick to judge this individual (although, it must be said that I don’t condone stealing), rather than look at the entire picture, which is world hunger. This assignment has shown the vitality of education when ending the poverty cycle; likewise, it has shown that this is not a privilege that everyone has the opportunity to receive. I believe that improving the education systems will pave the way for people to attend school and would be a major step towards ending the world hunger and poverty cycle. The stories gained from this assignment will remind me daily of my responsibility to help those in need around the world.

The original two actions outlined in my proposal consisted of donating to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society and to the micro-loan organization Kiva. My hopes were to address the issue of world hunger at both a domestic and international level. Only one of my original actions, which was to donate to Kiva, was carried out; I changed my second action based on a personal experience that occurred shortly after the proposal was handed in. I was walking home from school when I witnessed someone shoplifting from the local grocery store. He was young, his arms brimming with food as he ran through the parking lot. A security guard chased after him, however, the man was not caught. The other witness to the scene was a social worker who worked in the Downtown Eastside (DTES) for a number of years. He explained to me that he has seen this fair bit, where people shoplift to sell the goods at a reduced price in the DTES. While I don’t know for certain what the reason for shoplifting was, I did feel disheartened to witness the man stealing the grocery goods. It was equally as heartbreaking to see that the grocery store had security in place to prevent this from occurring.

Based on this experience, I chose to donate to a program internal to the University of British Columbia. More specifically, I chose to donate to Humanities 101, a free program run by the university that is offered to those located in the DTES. Upon completion of the program, students are presented with a certificate and a letter of reference from a professor, which can be used when applying for jobs. The Downtown Eastside is characterized as being one of Canada’s poorest postal codes (Kumagai, 2010); a count conducted in 2014 in the Metro Vancouver area found 2,777 homeless people in the city. The chaotic environment of this poor urban area, coupled with the lack of investment in proper support, means that individuals in this region lack access to primary health care and are also confronted with food insecurity (Kumagai, 2010). The McCreary Centre Society, a nonprofit organization with the goal of improving the health of BC youth, states that those who are homeless need a tailored program that will allow them to acquire beneficial employment skills (Murphy, 2002). It is for this reason that I chose to donate to Humanities 101 Fund. With roughly 700 graduates already, I hope that the funds donated will pave the path for someone to receive an education and ultimately find work, an opportunity that they might otherwise not have had.  Additionally, it is my belief that education plays a vital role in breaking the world hunger cycle. By providing the funds for someone to be educated, I hope this will better their chances of finding work and address any concerns of malnutrition.

As previously mentioned, I did carry out one of my original actions, which was to donate to the micro-loan organization known as Kiva. More  specifically, I provided a loan for a women in Lebanon, who desires a loan to go towards her school tuition fees. Her story resonated with me as she wrote that her main aim was to provide for her children and her best chance at this was through education. I chose to donate to someone in Lebanon, because similar to other developing countries, it has been hit hard by political unrest and civil war. The repercussions of civil wars extend to post-war periods; governments allocate scarce resources to redevelop the economy, sacrificing education as a result (Tfaily et al., 2013).  In light of this, hunger, disease and poverty are all characteristic consequences that arise from these particular socioeconomic issues (Hong et al., 2007). Furthermore, studies have found that approximately 46% of women in Lebanon have received less than secondary education (Tfaily et al., 2013). This becomes an issue as it has been found that the probability of a child being malnourished can be reduced by 40%; this number is dependent on the number of years a mother has attended school (Manning et al., 2007).

Both cases above have demonstrated the vitality of education. It shows how fundamental education is towards breaking the cycle of malnutrition and poverty, and this is why I chose education as the primary focus of my assignment.

Check out what UBC’s former president, Stephen Toope, had to say about the Humanities 101 fund.

Literature Cited

Hong, R., Mishra, V., & Michael, J. (2007) Economic disparity and child  survival in Cambodia. Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health, 19(2), 37-44.

Kumagai, J. (2010) Vancouver’s downtown eastside: A community in need of balance. Vancouver: Strathcona Business Improvement Association Ray-Cam Community Association.

Manning, M., & Patterson, J. (2007) World hunger series 2006: Hunger and learning. Olney: Association for Childhood Education International.

Murphy, A., & McCreary Centre Society. (2002). Between the cracks: Homeless youth in Vancouver. Burnaby, B.C: McCreary Centre Society.

Tfaily, R., Diab, H., % Kulczycki, A. (2013). Educational disparities and conflict: Evidence from Lebanon. Research in Comparative and International Education, 8(1), 55.