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Learning some life lessons, for $2 a day
UMW students live on $10 a week to raise money for entrepreneurs in Honduras
Date published: 4/21/2008
BY JEFF BRANSCOME University of Mary Washington students who lived on $2 a day last week wondered whether they were competing with homeless people for food. After a macroeconomics class, some went Dumpster-diving for bagels at the Park & Shop retail center on the U.S. 1 Bypass. Others retrieved donuts behind a nearby Dunkin' Donuts. And a professor begged for coffee on a daily basis. But unlike the chronic homeless, these campus crusaders knew their situation was temporary. The project, in which 35 students lived on $10 last week, ended Friday at 4 p.m. One student's friend called her a "fobo," meaning fake hobo. "This year, I've been more reflective about whether this is a legitimate project," said economics professor Shawn Humphrey. "This is an imperfect tool, but it may be the best tool I have" to give students a feel for what it's like to be poor. Humphrey started the project last year to raise money for business loans for poor entrepreneurs in developing countries. This year, students solicited donations with the goal of issuing $50 to $200 business loans to people in the impoverished Honduran town of Siete de Abril. As of last week, they had raised $2,200 with a goal of $5,000. Next semester, Humphrey hopes to work with a class to form a nonprofit microfinance institution in conjunction with Students Helping Honduras--a philanthropic group founded at UMW. In a makeshift shanty town near the main walkway of the Fredericksburg campus, members of UMW's chapter of Students Helping Honduras built a hut last week in a matter of hours. The walls were made of plywood, orange plastic bags and flattened beer cases. Turns out, Humphrey said, the shelter made for suitable office space. He sat on a red car seat, which a student found behind a shopping center, and sold T-shirts for a minimum of $10. Several passersby, including one prospective student's parents, bought the "$2 a day challenge" shirts. "Once you explain the cause and what we're trying to accomplish, people are just really enthusiastic," said senior Samantha Oliver, who wore jeans, pink sandals and a UMW sweatshirt on a recent cool night. She's the president of UMW's economic development club.
Date published: 4/21/2008
You also have to wonder...
(posted by
dr428
, Apr. 22, 2008 8:23 am)
did they notify food services that 35 students were not going to eat college food that week? Or did the school prepare food for 35 people and let it go to waste becuase they were no-shows at meal time?
Kwitcherbellyachin
(posted by
MarHeflin
, Apr. 22, 2008 12:05 am)
I think what these students have done is commendable. I wish folks would stop complaining about what others are doing to try to help the world and expend that energy helping what, they feel, are their worthier causes.
Agree w/ the Ranko
(posted by
oldlady
, Apr. 21, 2008 9:23 pm)
How can a college, that I cannot afford to attend, pretend to know what the homeless feel? This ritual has always been a joke to the majority, or should I say us minorities. And I also am somewhat concerned with the continue growth of this and all universities that continue to "beautify" and raise tuition to pay for it. Again, the minorities AND the homeless, left behind.
Ltfe's Lesson ??
(posted by
Ranko
, Apr. 21, 2008 8:15 pm)
I thought it was odd that a school that bought a apartment complex, a shopping center, 2 very large mini mansions and now are looking to purchase a villa would know anything about the less fortunate. Why not show the poor how to invest in american colleges after all they must be making lots and lots and lots of money. Just a thought.
Re: charity (cont. final)
(posted by
Dang
, Apr. 21, 2008 4:08 pm)
So, personally, I would rather see the money go to motivated people who want to work their posteriors off to make a business succeed and pull themselves out of poverty, when they only really need a little training in how to run a business and a financial grubstake to get started than to give even more money to people here in the U.S. who have little motivation to better their lives.
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