Providence, RI--The Providence College Chapter of Amnesty International and the Office of Campus Ministry will host two events in an effort to raise awareness of the issue of global hunger.

The first event is a lecture by Jim Tull of PC's Feinstein Institute for Public and Community Service and former head of Amos House in Providence.  Tull will speak on "Global Hunger and Poverty" on Thursday, November 16, 2006 at 6:00 p.m. in the Campus Ministry Center (lower level of St. Dominic's Chapel).

The primary event of the week is the Oxfam Hunger Banquet to be held Sunday, November 19, 2006 at 6:00 p.m. in Slavin Center, `64 Hall.  The Oxfam Hunger Banquet is an experiential dinner that reflects economic and social inequalities that exist in the world and how they cause hunger and poverty in sixty percent of the population. Each participant at the dinner is placed at random in a different class (first, second, or third) and this class determines what type of meal the dinner guest will receive.  These class disparities even translate into how each one is treated and how they are served their food.

During the dinner, Jeff Sylvain, a native of Haiti and national speaker on hunger issues, will speak about his experiences of childhood poverty and the disparities present between third world and first world societies.  There also will be student presentations about Oxfam and how the PC community can take action.

According to Shannon Johnson, chair of Campus Ministry's Hunger Awareness and Outreach committee, "Our main goal is to increase awareness of the real causes of hunger, which is not a lack of food, but by political and economic systems that prevent people access to food. Also, we want to educate and mobilize our campus and create a greater passion for social justice and a sense of solidarity with those in and outside of our community who face the daunting reality of extreme poverty everyday."

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