Hattaw Khalid

I was born in Baghdad, Iraq but ended up moving around the world for most of my life. Lived in 3 different countries, 2 continents and went to 7 different schools. I spent some parts of my childhood and my teen years in Vancouver and that was a big factor of me wanting to attend UBC.

For my FNH 355: International Nutrition class I had to come up with a project that would alleviate poverty, directly or indirectly. This was a great opportunity to do some research on different organizations and brainstorm and connect causes and effects of everyday life that contribute to food security locally and internationally. While doing my research I stumbled upon the World Food Programme, a UN organization that provides food aid and food assistances to various developing countries around the world. What most intrigued me about the WFP is the concept of food vouchers. A lot of times when food aid is administered to developing countries, the food itself and the distribution are not culturally acceptable.

Airdrops require long hours of waiting in-line for food that you may not find palatable within that country. Whereas with food vouchers you are able to purchase food from a supermarket-like setting and it is culturally acceptable and palatable. Another problem I found with imported food aid is that it hurts local farmers, whereas food vouchers support local farmers and don’t hurt the local economy.

So, my group members and I settled on the organization we chose to contribute to and started a fundraiser. We baked cookies and ricecrispy squares and sold them at a Food Society potluck. We were able to raise approximately $32 in two hours, which wasn’t too bad as it was a free potluck and they had free desserts as well. We ended up sending it to the Syria program to help children and women in war-torn Syria.

I truly enjoyed this project and I’m very happy with our organization choice. Hopefully the money does end up reaching one family and doesn’t get lost in transactions. Regardless, it was a wonderful experience all around. And as for FNH 355, for anyone interested in international development, health or non-health focused, this course is extremely interesting and eye opening.