Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

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960 million people went to bed hungry last night

So did I.

But not for the same reason.

In a world where 1 in 7 people battles hunger daily, I’m one of the “lucky” ones.

Yesterday was Compassion International’s One Meal One Day campaign, an annual event that encourages people to skip a meal and donate what they would have spent to their work in a country whose people experience extreme hunger. This year’s focus: Ethiopia.OMOD_2013_children

First let me say this: I don’t usually fast. It’s a discipline I’ve not practiced much since college and I almost never look forward to it. Especially as a stay-at-home mom where the food is readily available all day long and the kids need regular nourishment. Plus, I’m cranky when I’m hungry. All good reasons to not do it, I know.

But this seemed like a challenge I could handle. And I wanted to do it. When it came time to decide which meal to skip, I chose dinner specifically so I could go to bed hungry. When’s the last time I did that on purpose?

Some thoughts:

  • I made pork chops and sauerkraut for the rest of the family. I’m not a big fan of sauerkraut. Maybe I did that on purpose. And maybe I’m ashamed that I can choose to skip a meal because I don’t like the food being offered. Who, if they were truly hungry, would turn down food of any kind? 2012 UGANDA IT WORKS+
  • My stomach started growling almost as soon as I started cooking dinner, as if it instinctively knew I would be denying it.
  • Hunger does strange things to your senses. I had to run to the store after “dinner” and when I came back, I was sure the air in town smelled like root beer. Root beer? Weird.
  • When I told my husband my plan to not eat after I started making dinner, he said, “So you’ll drink water. I could put some dirt in it for you.” We chuckled and maybe that makes us insensitive. Truth is, unclean water is a reality for 880 million people around the world. No laughing matter.
  • My husband also ate ice cream and a cupcake in front of me while we watched TV. I think I handled it okay. No one lost an arm.
  • When I woke up this morning, I barely remembered that I hadn’t eaten for 15 or 16 hours. Does a person eventually become accustomed to hunger?
  • I wish I’d known about this event earlier so I could have enlisted more of you to participate. Be forewarned, next year, I’ll be recruiting a team.

Even if you didn’t skip a meal, you can donate to the cause here.

And if you’re interested in sponsoring a child through Compassion, you can click on the banner on the side of the blog and start searching for a child to support.

Skipping a meal and donating a little bit of money doesn’t seem like a big deal with a big impact.

But it’s something.

And when a whole bunch of somethings come together, they can have a greater effect.

My parting words?

Do something.

5 on Friday: Ways to fight slavery

Thanks to my friends over at The Exodus Road, here are five ways you–yes, YOU–can fight slavery.

  1. Educate Yourself. Take some time to research the issue of modern day slavery. Check out the slavery map on FreetheSlaves.net. It’s a great resource. You may also want to visit CNN’s Freedom Project for resources and current news stories.
  2. Write your elected officials. International Justice Mission does a fantastic job lobbying governments to make changes that support freedom. Stop by their site and sign their latest petition. You can visit them by clicking HERE.
  3. Buy Fair Trade. Since the majority of slavery involves labor, make an effort (and spend the money) to purchase fair trade items as much as possible. This is a practical way you advocate for the oppressed as a consumer. Consider checking out places like TenThousandVillages.com or Yobel Market to shop for gifts, and take a few minutes to see what your Slavery Footprint is. (Lisa adds a shout-out to Imagine Goods, a Lancaster, Pa. based company who’ll be launching a Web site soon with fair-trade items for sale, benefitting at-risk women in Cambodia.)
  4. Socially Share. Commit that every time you see something about slavery or justice, you’ll take the time to share it with your online circle of influence. When you consistently share, you become an advocate for positive social change. “Like” anti-trafficking organizations on Facebook and follow them on Twitter–this will help abolition efforts to remain at the forefront of your attention, too. This is a simple, practical, and free way you can actively become an abolitionist. ER-camera-mirror
  5. Donate to Freedom Efforts. Find a specific organization that fights trafficking and do research on their efforts, their financials, their methods. When you feel good about their work, start by choosing a specific project that connects with you, like financially supporting prevention efforts in the United States with Love146 or helping a national undercover investigator with The Exodus Road buy a covert camera.