famine camp

joy was on a 1-day famine camp in ngee ann poly.

when we picked her up close to midnight on friday, she was carrying a signboard on her neck, reading,"i have aids". and she had started fasting since 1 pm, but commented that she wasn't feeling hungry at all! maybe, it was the mental readiness to face up to the challenges.

she rattled on about the camp events, which basically created awareness of all types of problems facing the developing and poor nations, aids disease being one of them. shortage of supply in food and low literacy rate in some.

she made 2 good friends, one of whom is studying mass comm in ngee ann poly.

it was funny to hear her comment that poly stdts are more approachable and fun, unlike the nerdy and competitive jc stdts. well, maybe she's right. different institutions have different profiles altogether.

she was only able to stay for a day while all her friends hung on till sat night. reason being, she had a dance show on sat afternoon.

the funny part was, joy told me that to break the fast at 7 pm sat, all her friends would be having a feast at crystal jade. she lamented at not being able to be part of them. i was really puzzled how the event organiser could arrange for such an expensive meal for the stdts.

when the cat was out of the bag, i was amused. the break-fast meal was just a simple packet of nasi lemak, which all her friends claimed to be too little for their satisfaction.

well, it was a good experience. at least, it created awareness of the challenging problems faced by the poor nations, and having let her experience what it would be like to go without food for many hours!

(sad to say, i haven't for a single day try to fast....)