July 26, 2008

Hunger survivor intimate with Operation Rice Bowl

Growing up in Ghana, Thomas Awiapo was always hungry until Catholic Relief Services came to his village with food funded by Operation Rice Bowl donations.

CARLOS BRICENO | FLORIDA CATHOLIC ST. PETERSBURG BUREAU EDITOR

Published: 02.15.08

ST. PETERSBURG | Thomas Awiapo grew up in Africa, a continent wounded by poverty, disease and war. His tiny village in the northern part of Ghana was not spared.

The village did not have electricity or running water. There was no hospital nearby. But the worst part was the lack of food.
“We were always hungry,” he said, referring to him and his three siblings. “We cried for food. We went to bed hungry. We didn’t know what breakfast was. We didn’t know what lunch was.”

His parents died when he was a youngster. He was so young he didn’t even know what they died from. Two of his younger siblings also subsequently died when he got older. His older brother disappeared 13 years ago, and he still doesn’t know what happened to him, he said.

But when he was growing up, Catholic Relief Services, an agency founded by the U.S. Catholic bishops to assist impoverished and disadvantaged people overseas, opened a small school in his village. The school served snacks and lunch, and in order to get the food, the kids had to attend the school.

Awiapo said he didn’t understand the value of an education. His parents never went to school. He didn’t either. But, with the food the principal attraction of going to school, he started to enjoy it.

Part of the money that went to provide the food came from Operation Rice Bowl, CRS’ official Lenten program, which began as a response to the drought in the African Sahel during the mid- 1970s.

Since then, Operation Rice Bowl has called participants to pray with their families and faith communities; fast in solidarity with those who hunger; learn about the global community and the challenges of poverty overseas, and give sacrificial contributions to those in need.

“Imagine the power of that little snack,” he said. “That little snack actually gave me hope. It gave me life. It restored my dignity, which was on the way out. It gave me compassion and justice.”

Since early January, Awiapo, 39, has been making appearances across the United States. He now works for CRS, in his home country, but this is the third year that he’s been visiting different American cities, educating others about Operation Rice Bowl and CRS and talking about the impact both made on his life.

He visited Florida in early February, talking to people in the Archdiocese of Miami and the dioceses of St. Petersburg and Palm Beach.

“People need to realize that the whole world is not like America,” he said.

Participants in Operation Rice Bowl put donations into the program’s symbolic rice bowls, which are collected and donated to hunger projects abroad and in the U.S.

Since its beginning in 1975, the annual campaign has raised more than $167 million to fund CRS’ development projects, according to Elizabeth Martin, CRS’ senior program manager for Operation Rice Bowl.

Awiapo’s story, obviously, is a very personal one, and it seems to affect people.

“People have been very impressed,” said Gloria Luna, director of social advocacy for Catholic Charities in the Archdiocese of Miami, where he talked at several parishes, Catholic high schools and the pastoral center there.

“They were very touched by his talk. It’s really beautiful to have a little bit of Africa here and to bring some of that reality to us.”

Sabrina Burton Schultz, the Diocese of St. Petersburg’s director of life ministry, said his talks are important to build awareness about poverty.

And Operation Rice Bowl itself, she said, is important because “it is one of the few programs we have in the church that really builds solidarity through all the educational resources they have. The campaign of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, it really helps us to stand with our brothers and sisters overseas to know what their struggles are.”

For more information about Operation Rice Bowl, go to http://orb.crs.org/.

 

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