Foodfast Manual 2009

Coordinator’s Manual 2008-2009

www.foodfast.org

Table of Contents How to Coordinate a Successful Food Fast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 2 Sample Retreat Schedules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 4 Guide to Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 5 A Backgrounder on Migration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 6 Fasting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 8 Fundraising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 9 Advocacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 10 Fasting Atmosphere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 11 Icebreakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 13 Prayer Sessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 15 Learning Opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 24 Reflections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 28 Energizers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 31 Group Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 32 Connection to the World Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 36 Stories from the Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 41 Multi-Media Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 47 Parental Consent Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 48 Sponsorship Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 49 Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 51 Handouts referred to in the activities can be found on the Food Fast CD-ROM or at www.foodfast.org. Also available online and on the Food Fast CD-ROM are presentations and additional resources. Special thanks to Barbara Ballenger from the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, Julie Hagerty from the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and Elaine Menardi from the Diocese of Cheyenne for their contributions to the writing of this manual.

“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me.”

-Matthew 25:35

Food Fast Introduction The Gospel calls us to feed the hungry and to welcome the stranger. We can respond to this two fold call through our actions on behalf of our migrant brothers and sisters around the world. This year’s Food Fast materials focus on migration, an issue that is connected to hunger and at times results in an emotional debate in the U.S. The work of Catholic Relief Services continues to respond to the needs of uprooted people, providing basic needs to displaced people in Sudan, building peace for the victims of armed conflict in Colombia, and responding to the increasing number of people in Asia and Africa seeking assistance because of the food crisis. Our goal this year is to help Catholic youth understand the global dimension of migration, its relationship to hunger and how we as Catholics can respond to this issue. In order to assist you in understanding the complex relationship between hunger and migration, we have included a Backgrounder on Migration, Hunger and Catholic Social Teaching in this manual. You can use this as you prepare to organize the Food Fast to help youth understand the many dimensions of global migration. Also this year we would like to offer Catholic youth an opportunity to advocate on the issues impacting migration and hunger. We believe that if Catholic youth understand the causes of migration and its impact on individuals, their families, communities and countries, Catholic youth can be empowered to make their voices heard on this issue and other issues that are important to them. We know you agree with us that we can never underestimate the power of Catholic youth to make a difference. As a Catholic youth minister you play an important role in ensuring that Catholic youth can live their faith in solidarity with our poor brothers and sisters in our world today. Through this year’s Food Fast we hope that we can continue to work together in educating Catholic youth about the issues that impact the work of CRS and our global community. To paraphrase, Nelson Mandela, may we inspire Catholic youth to make their greatness blossom right here right now.

Food

1

Fast

How to Coordinate a Successful Food Fast This Coordinator’s Manual provides resources to enable you to design a retreat that will offer an experiential learning opportunity custom-made for your group. We provide different categories of activities to balance the Food Fast retreat with educational opportunities, spiritual and reflective opportunities, and fun, interactive exercises. You will find the 24 Hour Retreat Schedule on page 4. Corresponding with each time period is a suggested activity for your group to engage in. The categories of activities in this Coordinator’s Manual include Icebreakers, Prayer Sessions, Learning Opportunities, Reflections, Energizers, Group Projects, Connection to the World Activities and Fasting Atmosphere. You may select activities from the various categories for each time period in the schedule in order to create a retreat that will work best with the dynamic of your group. Feel free to rearrange the order of the activities so they correspond best with your schedule. Below is a timeline for working with volunteers to plan your Food Fast. We highly recommend that participants be involved in the planning of your retreat. • Explore ways that you can include advocacy activities during or after your Food Fast such as organizing a petition/letter writing drive in your parish/ school to ask your elected officials to address the root causes of hunger and migration; inviting an elected official to speak to your FF group or your parish/school and ask him/her what his/her plans are to address the root causes of hunger and migration; or inviting an immigrant or refugee rights advocate from your local Catholic Charities office to speak to your FF group/your parish/your school. 

Two Months Before Food Fast • Form a Food Fast planning team of students, parents, and teachers from the parish, school, or different groups in the diocese. • Set a date and select a place to hold your Food Fast event. Suggested dates: World Food Day (October 16), World AIDS Day (December 1) Thanksgiving time, Lent. • Form Food Fast coordinating teams: Marketing, Activity, Logistics, and Fundraising.

Logistics Team

• Recruit adult chaperones to assist you. One adult per ten participants is recommended.

• Reserve a room for the Fast.

Marketing Team

• Send a letter and a copy of the Parental Consent Form (page 48) to the parent or guardian of each participant, and set a deadline for forms to be returned.

• Hang the Food Fast Poster with the date and time of your Fast in a prominent place in the parish or school.

• Work with other Teams to determine what kind of materials or supplies will be needed for the retreat.

• Develop flyers to distribute and recruit participants. • Post announcements in the parish bulletin.

Fundraising Team

• Make personal phone calls to invite your friends to participate.

• Brainstorm fundraising ideas. Set up a plan for involving the group in fundraising.

Activity Team

• Set a challenging fundraising goal.

• Review the Food Fast retreat schedule and select the activities that would work best with your group.

• Photocopy and distribute Sponsorship Form (page 49) • Work with your Pastor or parish council to coordinate a “Breaking the Fast” meal.

• Work with the Logistics Team to compile materials for each of the activities. Select music that will be used during the retreat. Review the music suggestions in the activities.

One Month Before Food Fast Marketing Team

Ask the participants if they have any of the songs listed and are willing to bring them to the event.

• Consider videotaping and/or photographing parts of your Food Fast. Contact local and diocesan TV, radio, and newspapers to inform them about this important event! Send copies of your pictures to Catholic Relief Services, and perhaps we can post them on our website!

• Contact guest speakers or local agencies (e.g. food bank) where the group can volunteer during Food Fast to set up an appointment during the retreat. • Plan on how you can creatively “break the fast.” See page 8 for ideas.

• Post a Food Fast event announcement on your parish or school website.

• Contact your pastor and/or liturgy committee to discuss ways in which the entire parish can be involved in the closing Mass or commissioning ceremony for Food Fast.

Food

• Email [email protected] so that we can include your group in the Food Fast website’s Fast Prayers section and ensure that other youth groups pray with you during your retreat.

2

Fast

Activity Team

One Month After Food Fast

• Speak to your Pastor and/or Liturgy committee and suggest ideas for incorporating Food Fast participants into Mass, by offering to write special Prayers of the Faithful, having Food Fast participants make an announcement about what they did during the Fast, or asking parishioners to sponsor a participant.

• Extend the impact of the Food Fast and host a participant reunion evening. Invite a speaker to discuss specific global justice issues or participate in one of the activities on the Food Fast website (www.foodfast.org). • Keep up the momentum by organizing a follow-up meeting with the Coordinating Teams. Set a date for next year’s Food Fast.

• Review the Preparing for the Fast section (page 8) for ideas on how you can help participants spiritually prepare for the retreat.

• As a follow up to the Food Fast you can work on any of these advocacy activities:

• Confirm arrangements with speaker, advocacy project or local service project.

• Let your friends know about your FF experience and what you’ve learned about hunger and migration on your MySpace or Facebook pages. Invite them to join your cause by becoming a CRS advocate on the issues that you care about.

• Inform Logistics Team of the materials needed. • Consider having the group hold a Work of Human Hands sale after Mass. Order a Work of Human Hands Catalog and promotional materials by calling 1-800-685-7572

• Write an opinion editorial for your local and/or diocesan paper to express your views about the issues of hunger and migration.

Logistics Team • Make sure all Parental Consent Forms have been returned.

• Write an article about your FF experience to your local or diocesan paper encouraging readers to think about the root causes of hunger and migration and what they can do to address them.

• Gather materials for the retreat. Make photocopies; get juice & cups, pencils, markers, pens, masking tape, Bibles, candles, music, prayer books, and audio-visual equipment.

One Week Before Food Fast

• Become a member of the CRS legislative network to stay informed about global poverty issues, including migration, and what we as a country can do to address them. Sign up at www.actioncenter.crs.org/signup.

Activity Team • Remind participants to leave their cell phones, iPods, CD players and other portable electronic devices at home.

• Organize a group visit to the local office of your Member of Congress to discuss with him/her the issues you learned about during FF and what we as a nation can do to address them. 

• Remind participants to spiritually prepare for the retreat based on the suggestions outlined in the Preparing for the Fast section (page 8).

• Get involved in the Catholic Justice for Immigrants Campaign (www.justiceforimmigrants.org) and the Catholic Campaign Against Global Poverty (www.crs.org/globalpoverty).

Hold Your Food Fast! One Week After Food Fast

• Encourage your classmates/fellow parishioners to join you to write letters, send postcards, write to the media to bring more attention to these issues. 

• Complete the Food Fast Evaluation form in the Handouts section of this manual and mail it to Catholic Relief Services, or fill out the online evaluation at www.foodfast.org.

During Lent • Reflect on your fasting experience and pray for those suffering from hunger and poverty around the world during the Lenten season. Continue to Pray, Fast, Learn, and Give with Operation Rice Bowl, Catholic Relief Services’ Lenten program. To order your free Operation Rice Bowl materials, call 1-800-222-0025 or visit http://orb.crs.org.

• Ask participants to write out their thoughts about the Food Fast event. Post them on your parish or school website and send them to your local or diocesan newspaper. Send them to us as well and perhaps we can use them in the website. • Send thank-you notes to everyone who helped, including speakers.

Fundraising Team • Collect all of the money raised for the event, and see how close you’ve come to achieving your goal! Mail all of the money you collected to Catholic Relief Services, Food Fast, P.O. Box 17090, Baltimore, MD 21203-7090.

Food

3

Fast

Sample Food Fast Retreat Schedules Use or modify the following schedule to structure your retreat. You may rearrange the order of activities so that the schedule best fits the needs of your group. Food Fast can be organized from 8 to 24 hour retreats. Here are some proposed basic activity breakdown based on 8, 10 and 24 hour retreat schedules:

24 Hour Retreat (Generic) Day 1 5:00 P.M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5:30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:00 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8:15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8:45 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10:15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10:30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11:15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11:45 P.M. – 8:00 A.M. . . .

Day 2 Arrival/Welcome Icebreaker Opening Prayer Learning Opportunity Juice break Reflection Icebreaker Free time Group Project Energizer Learning Opportunity Prayer Sleep

8:00 A.M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8:15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8:30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:00 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10:30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10:45 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:00 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1:00 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1:30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:45 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:00 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:45 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5:00 P.M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Wake up/Juice break Energizer Prayer Connection to the World Break Connection to the World Juice break Reflection Icebreaker Learning Opportunity Free time/Juice break Group Project Reflection Juice break/clean up Commissioning Prayer Break the Fast/Clean up End

8-Hour Retreat

10-Hour Retreat

9:00 A.M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10:00 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10:45 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11:30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11:45 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:00 P.M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:45 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1:00 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:00 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:45 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:00 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:45 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5:00 P.M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

8:00 A.M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8:30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:00 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:45 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10:30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10:45 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11:15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:00 P.M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1:15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1:45 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:00 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:45 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:00 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:45 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5:30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5:00 P.M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Arrival/Welcome Icebreaker Opening Prayer Learning Opportunity Juice Break Reflection Connection to the World Icebreaker or Energizer Group Project 1 Break Reflection Prayer Learning Opportunity Commissioning Prayer Break the Fast/Clean up End

Food

4

Fast

Arrival/Welcome Icebreaker Opening Prayer Learning Opportunity Break Reflection Connection to the World Learning Opportunity Group Project 1 Break Reflection Prayer Group Project 2 Break Icebreaker/Energizer Learning Opportunity Reflection Commissioning Prayer Break the Fast End

A Guide to the 2008-2009 Activities This year we would like to offer this flow of activities based on the options offered in this manual:

Welcome and Introductions Option 1 (based on generic schedule)

Option 2

Icebreaker: Get-to-Know-You Bingo

Icebreaker: Where are you from?

Opening Prayer: Walking Solidarity

Opening Prayer: Walking Solidarity

Learning Opportunity: Shared Journeys

Learning Opportunity: Hunger and Fasting * (page 15 in 2004-05 Food Fast Manual)

Reflection: Would You Rather

Reflection: Would You Rather

Icebreaker: My Journey

Icebreaker: My Journey

Group Project: Stations of the Journey Banners

Learning Opportunity: New Eyes

Energizer: All Mine

Group Projects: Stations of the Journey Banners

Learning Opportunity: Mapping the Movement of People

Reflection: Life in a Bag

Prayer: Late Night Rosary

Learning Opportunity: Shared Journeys

Energizer: Lighter than Air

Prayer: Stations of the Journey #1

Prayer: Mary, Mother of Migrants

Energizer: Lighter than Air

Connection to the World #1: The Hunger Trap Connection to the World # 2: To Leave or To Stay

Connection to the World #1: Crossroads of the World: Sudan Group Project: Stations of the Journey Collage # 1

Reflection: Do I Understand Where I Stand?

Prayer: Stations of the Journey #2

Icebreaker: Where are you from?

Connection to the World: Speakers on Migration OR Learning Opportunity: Mapping the Movement of People

Learning Opportunity: The Line in the Sand OR Connection to the World: Speakers on Migration

Reflection: Do I Understand Where I Stand?

Group Project: Be An Advocate

Group Project: Stations of the Journey Collage # 2

Reflection: You Make the Road by Walking

Reflection: You Make the Road by Walking

Closing Prayer: Triumphant Procession and Sacred Spiral

Closing Prayer: Stations of the Journey # 3

Break the Fast by celebrating the Eucharist or sharing a simple meal. *If this is the first time you are organizing a Food Fast this activity would help the participants to connect their fasting experience with the issue of world hunger. Food

5

Fast

A Backgrounder on Migration, Hunger and Catholic Social Teaching “I want to encourage you and your communities to continue to welcome the immigrants who join your ranks today, to share their joys and hopes, to support them in their sorrow and trials, and to help them flourish in their new home. This, indeed, is what your fellow countrymen have done for generations. From the beginning, they have opened their doors to the tired, the poor, the ‘huddled masses yearning to breathe free.’ These are the people whom America has made her own.” Pope Benedict XVI, meeting with the Bishops of the United States of America, National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Wednesday, April 16, 2008

The Relationship between Hunger and Migration

This year’s Food Fast materials focus on the link between migration, hunger and food security. This guide was prepared to help you understand these two complex issues, how they are interconnected and how we can view them through the lens of our Catholic faith.

There are many reasons why people migrate. It could be to escape armed conflict or persecution; for employment opportunities; to reunite with their family or out of the hope for a better life. Although we are most aware of migration that crosses borders, an even larger number of people migrate within their own country from rural to urban areas. Many people move in search of work to meet their family’s basic needs, especially the most essential concern for adequate food and nutrition. This is a reality for farming communities in particular that have suffered drought or other natural disasters, but also for many small farmers around the globe who have been hard hit by economic and trade policies not designed to respond to the needs of the poor, and have made it difficult if not impossible to remain on the land their families have worked for generations. People who have migrated to urban areas or other countries may also find themselves in situations where food is available, but they are unable to afford the food as prices rise beyond their means. The current global food crisis, projected to continue for several more years until prices stabilize in 2015, is a case in point. The price of food is increasing sharply in every region of the world for some of the most basic foodstuffs traded on international commodity markets. The price of wheat has doubled in less than a year, while rice, which is the staple food for about three billion people worldwide, has tripled in cost in the last 18 months, and in some countries, prices for milk and meat have more than doubled. The sharp price increases are beginning to cause widespread hunger as many families are using as much as 75 percent of their income for food. The crisis is triggering riots in cities in several nations. High food prices have brought down governments in the past, and could do so again in this crisis. The crisis is currently concentrated primarily in urban areas, where people must buy all of their food and are at the mercy of volatile markets. However, people in rural areas who cannot produce enough to feed their families are also suffering. The global food crisis may trigger the need for more people to migrate.

© 2005 Paul Jeffrey/ACT-Caritas

Food

6

Fast

Why Focus on Migration?

Migration, Hunger and Catholic Social Teaching

Our shared history as people of faith is replete with stories of migration. From Scriptures we are familiar with Jacob and his sons moving to Egypt due to famine, the exile to Babylon; the great Exodus of the Hebrew people; or the Holy Family fleeing Herod’s persecution after the birth of Jesus. If we look at our own family histories we find stories of long sea voyages to America’s shores; the trek out West; or uncertain journeys by land or by air in search of work, safety and a more secure future for families left behind. Migration increasingly demonstrates our interconnectedness as well as our differences, and in this time of globalization there are new ways we are challenged to respond to the impact of migration on peoples’ lives and on communities of both of origin and destination.

Given the gospel mandate to care for the stranger in our midst, Catholics are challenged to ask the difficult questions about our commitment to others and the responsibilities of our shared humanity. We are challenged to live our faith in solidarity with others throughout the world, to grapple with injustices, and what can be done to address them as well as to embrace our commonality and connectedness. It is important then for us to view the issue of migration through the lens of our Catholic faith. Catholic social teaching has a long and rich tradition in defending the right to migrate. Catholic teaching also states that the root causes of migration–poverty, injustice, religious intolerance, armed conflicts–must be addressed so that migrants can remain in their homeland and support their families. Catholic teaching also challenges us to care for the most vulnerable people in our world today.

As Pope Benedict has reminded us, the current immigration debate in the U.S. calls on us to reflect deeply as people of faith, members of a Church with a rich Catholic social teaching tradition and as citizens of a country long identified as a nation of immigrants. We are challenged to expand our understanding of this very human experience, with all its complexity, and how it impacts individuals, families, communities and nations. We are also called to take action to defend the human dignity of migrants. The Gospel mandate to “welcome the stranger” calls on us to care for and stand with immigrants, both documented and undocumented.

If we are to live out the principle of the option for the poor, we have to pay attention to many people whose experience of migration, particularly the poor, has become dangerous, abusive and too often life threatening. Many of those who most need to migrate have the least opportunity to do so in a manner that is safe, orderly or with required legal documentation. This is dramatically illustrated by the thousands of migrants who have died from dehydration and exposure since the mid 1990s attempting to cross the Arizona desert, and many others headed for Europe, Asia and elsewhere have suffered similar fates locked in cargo transports or attempting to cross by sea.

A starting point for our reflection is that all people have the right to find opportunities in their homeland- to find in their own countries the economic, political, and social opportunities to live in dignity and achieve a basic standard of living and not be forced to migrate. This principle is grounded in the conviction that economic, social and political policies must be designed to respond to the needs of the most vulnerable sectors – in this case, those most likely to be uprooted.

May we be encouraged by Pope Benedict XVI’s message to foster an environment where migrants are welcomed and cared for and also work towards solutions where people are not forced to migrate. In doing so families can remain together and individuals can secure a life of opportunity in communities around the world. It is a big task but each step we take in this journey makes a difference.

The approach to migration has to include reducing the need to migrate and protecting those who have little choice but to do so. The long-term goal is to achieve equitable development in which migration becomes a choice rather than a necessity. At the same time, the protection of the most vulnerable people in our societies must be upheld throughout this process. We have to make an honest assessment and improvement of the structures, systems, and policies both internationally and within our own borders that leave people with no other alternative but to leave their homes.

Food

In this manual you will find activities that give an overview of the global reality of migration (page 25); sessions that will help Catholic youth to consider their viewpoints on migration (page 29); and those that focus on Catholic social teaching on migration as well as ways that we can challenge Catholic youth to reflect on this important issue and respond as faithful citizens.

7

Fast

Fasting During Food Fast, your group will participate in a prayerful fast as an expression of solidarity with those who live in hunger and poverty around the world. Prayerful fasting provides a great experiential learning opportunity for youth. Fasting is an ancient spiritual tradition which pre-dates the Apostles and is recognized by the Church as a beneficial means of expanding and maturing a healthy prayer life. For most people, fasting is safe and can be beneficial. However, there are some people who should not fast without consulting a physician. Some examples of people who should not fast are: people who are too thin or emaciated; people who have experienced anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder or other behavioral disorders; people who suffer weakness or anemia; people who take insulin for diabetes, or suffer from hypoglycemia or any other blood sugar problem.

St. Mary, Austin, TX

Youth who are uncertain about their ability to participate in the fasting should check with a physician before participating. Fasting should only be done in a limited and controlled environment. Catholic Relief Services has provided a Parental Consent Form (page 48), and we recommend that you require youth in your group to receive permission from a parent or guardian before participating in the Fast. Some groups may have members who are physically unable to take part in a 24-hour fast. If you have concerns about the fasting element of Food Fast, you may modify the retreat to provide the experiential learning opportunity without the element of fasting. Some groups who have decided not to fast instead prepare Operation Rice Bowl simple meals (http://orb.crs.org) and serve them at each mealtime, which helps keep a connection to global solidarity alive throughout the 24 hours. If your group comes up with a creative idea for an alternative to fasting, please visit our website (www.foodfast.org) and share your best practices with us. We will share your ideas in future Food Fast materials.

Preparing for the Fast You and your group are not just getting ready to stop eating for a period of time—you’re getting ready to make more room in your heart for the poor, your brothers and sisters, for Jesus. Preparations can be made by spending a little time in prayer every day, and reading Scripture, for example: Matthew 6: 16-18 or Isaiah 58: 6-9. Your group can also read about the poor in the U.S. (www. povertyusa.org) and in developing countries (www.crs.org). Finally, challenge your group to take note of how much food they eat every day both during and between meals.

Breaking the Fast We suggest that your group ends the Food Fast experience with a shared meal. This meal should continue the spirit of the Food Fast experience by being simple, like an Operation Rice Bowl type of meal (http://orb.crs.org) or a meal of food from a country you have learned about during your Food Fast. Try to avoid food that participants are familiar with and experience food from another hemisphere! Avoid a big meal consisting of pizza, burgers, ice cream, etc. Keep in mind that we can choose to fast; however, our brothers and sisters in developing countries fast every day and do not choose to do so.

Food

8

Fast

Fundraising Through Food Fast, participants will learn about global hunger and poverty, and reflect upon our responsibility as Catholics to share our gifts and resources with the poor. One way to act in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in need is to use Food Fast as an opportunity to raise money to support the work of Catholic Relief Services. Use your creativity to decide on the best fundraising strategy for your group. 1. Brainstorm. As a group, think about creative ways to involve donors in your Food Fast experience. How can you incorporate fundraising into your Food Fast? How can you involve the parish or the larger community? What kinds of fundraisers work best in your community? Perhaps you can solicit Hour Sponsors as a fundraising option (see below for more details). 2. Set a Goal. Challenge your group to work towards a fundraising goal. You can set your goal as the amount of money you want to raise, the number of Food Fast participants who raise money, or the number of pledges you hope to receive. You may ask the participants to write down the group or personal goal in the sponsorship form. 3. Gather Pledges. A Sponsorship Form is provided on page 49. Use this form to record donations and pledges towards your goal. Assign an authorization code for each participant to help you track their pledges and write down your contact information just in case sponsors want more information. 4. Break the Fast with your Parish Community. You may choose to close your 24-hour retreat by cooking a “breaking the fast” meal for your parish community. Use one of the simple meal recipes from Operation Rice Bowl or serve another quick and simple meal. Include the community in your Food Fast experience by using the Meal Prayer from the Food Fast website (www.foodfast.org) as a blessing for the meal. Invite the entire parish community and suggest they donate a solidarity fee of $3 or $5 per person. 5. Thank your donors. Be sure to thank those who contributed to your fundraising goal. Let them know that through their donations they are working with Catholic Relief Services to transform the world! 6. Send your donations to:

Catholic Relief Services Food Fast P.O. Box 17090 Baltimore, MD 21203-7090

Fundraising Option: “Hour Sponsors” In order to help participants raise money for CRS prior to the Food Fast, they may consider soliciting Food Fast “Hour Sponsors.” Participants are encouraged to approach family, friends and parishioners for this endeavor. An “Hour Sponsor” will donate a set amount of money for a particular hour in which the participant fasts throughout the retreat. The participant will remind the sponsor that he/she will pray for the sponsor during that hour and for that sponsor’s intentions. And, the participant asks that the sponsor do the same for them. This method will assist the youth minister in keeping track of each participants “24 hour sponsors” should the Food Fast be designed for that amount of time. Use the Sponsorship Form (page 49) which is designed for tracking sponsors and donations, to be turned into the youth minister prior to the Food Fast.

Lana Slezic for CRS Food

9

Fast

Advocacy Another effective way that Food Fast participants can make a difference in the world is to take a lead in educating their peers and faith community on the issues discussed in the Food Fast. Through Food Fast the participants will learn about the issues and consider their own positions. An essential part of advocacy is raising awareness so once the participants are aware of the importance of an issue, they can act in its favor by convincing others that it is something they should care about too. Advocacy efforts often start small and then pick up momentum and grow bigger quickly. Anyone can advocate for a cause, especially youth. They can change the world with their ideas. (They have energy and are open to new ideas, doing things differently.) Advocacy is important because it helps bring about change for the better (changes structures, systems that are unjust). We should strive for our churches, communities and school to be the best they can be. When people advocate for something, they are acting to make the world a better place. David Snyder/CRS

Use your creativity to decide on the best strategy to advocate for your issue as a group.

1. Research and discuss the issues that participants will learn about in Food Fast and identify a common position. Identify which issues you as a group are most passionate about and try to establish a common understanding and position. Consult the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (www.usccb.org) and Catholic Relief Services (www.crs.org) for the Church’s position on these issues.

For example, your group could agree that making sure people around the world can stay in their countries of origin and can provide sufficiently for themselves and their families is important. Your group could also agree that it is important for the countries of origin to make it possible for its citizens to remain in the country by investing in the necessary infrastructure and social services. Finally, your group could agree that our country – the United States – also has a role to play to ensure that people in other countries have a chance to provide for themselves and their families.

2. Set an advocacy goal. As a group, decide what exactly you want to accomplish as advocates for your position. You may decide that you want to present your position on a particular issue to your school, church or youth group to try to raise awareness about your issue. You may decide to invite a speaker to your school, church or youth group to learn more about it. You may also decide that you would like to communicate your position on your issues to elected officials in your community who can do something about it or write to your local newspaper about your Food Fast advocacy journey. 3. Accomplishing your advocacy goal. Whatever your goal is, make sure you have a clear path to achieving it. Maybe your goal is to gather 500 signatures to a petition you have created directed to your elected officials. If so, figure out a strategy to gather those 500 petitions that may include a sign up drive in church after mass on Sunday, going door to door in your neighborhood or talking to your classmates about it in school. 4. Celebrate your advocacy achievement and don’t give up on your issue. Once you’ve accomplished your advocacy goal, celebrate with your group. You might decide that you’ve accomplished everything you’d hoped to accomplish but more likely you’ll recognize that your voice is a powerful tool to make incremental changes in the way we can live in solidarity with our brothers and sisters around the world.

A way to stay informed in advocacy issues is to join the CRS Advocacy Network at http://actioncenter.crs.org/signup. Another way is to come up with new advocacy goals that will build on the goals you have already achieved. Consult with others in your school, parish or community engaged in social justice issues to see whether you can join forces on issues that are important to you. You’ll see – you can make a world of difference by just taking action!

Food

10

Fast

Fasting Atmosphere/Environment With a little effort you can create a meaningful retreat atmosphere that is unique to Food Fast. Some ideas are listed below that will help create an environment which demonstrates a larger world that is beyond the experience of most North American youth.

Option 1: Steps on the Journey

Option 2: Mapping the World

Materials Needed:

Activity Summary

Small table, candle, cloth, artifact, photos

A world map(s) can be displayed to provide participants with a particular perspective of the world as well as help them learn locations of countries to be discussed. The maps and posters can be posted and referenced during portions of the retreat.

Procedure: Create spaces in the room that are designated prayer areas. Mark each space with a small table, cloth and candle. Also add an artifact from different regions of the world and photos of people represented in the Food Fast. Download pictures from the Solidarity Partners PowerPoint presentation (Available from the CD-ROM or at www.foodfast.org/resources) or The Corporal Works of Mercy and Stations of the Cross laminated poster series from Maryknoll (Available for purchase at www.maryknollmall.org)

Materials Needed Map of the World Option: The following maps present a different view of the world and you may use one of them. • Peters Projection World Map: This is an equal area world map and shows all areas - whether countries, continents or oceans - according to their actual size. • United Nations World Food Program (WFP) Hunger Map: This map is color-coded based on the percentage of the undernourished population in all the countries of the world. An interactive sample can be viewed at http://www.wfp.org/country_brief/hunger_map/map/ hungermap_popup/map_popup.html. Or you can print a version of the map from: http://www.wfp.org/Country_Brief/Hunger_Map/pdf/ WFP_HMAP07_ENG_R.pdf

David Snyder/CRS

Food

11

Fast

Option 3: Films on Migration

The Invisible Chapel This is a film on a migrant chapel in a San Diego neighborhood that was nestled in a hidden canyon obscured from view by the cover of brushes and trees. Every Sunday parish volunteers provided humanitarian assistance and held a Church service for over one hundred impoverished agricultural, construction and service industry workers from Mexico. Some nearby neighbors clashed with the mostly undocumented immigrant congregation. The ensuing conflict forced the migrants and volunteers out of their sacred space of twenty years and ultimately caused the destruction of their place of worship.

The following films focus on the issues and stories of immigration in the U.S.

The Line in the Sand This dramatic theatre performance on DVD tells the story of migration through the eyes of 9 different characters, each one based on a real person. The DVD also includes special features such as discussion questions, suggested web links, and an interview with Erica Dahl-Bredine from the CRS Mexico country program.

Price: $25

To order this free resource from Catholic Relief Services go to http://crs.org/dramaproject/

*These four films can be purchased from the University of Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies by going to http://dyingtolive.nd.edu/order.shtml or by calling 574-631-3233

Dying to Live: A Migrant’s Journey This film is a profound look at the human face of the immigrant. It explores who these people are, why they leave their homes and what they face in their journey. This film exposes the places of conflict, pain and hope along the US-Mexico border. It is a reflection on the human struggle for a more dignified life and the search to find God in the midst of that struggle.

Lives for Sale This is a documentary on immigration and human trafficking. Lives for Sale goes beyond the rhetoric to show why immigrants are willing to risk everything - even virtual slavery - for the American Dream. While politicians, activists and the media wrestle with the thorny issue of immigration, this new investigative documentary exposes the painful, rarely seen human side of illegal immigration; especially the growing black market trade in human beings. This film is a joint production between Maryknoll and Lightfoot Films, in Association with Faith & Values Media

Price: $25

Strangers No Longer This documentary puts contemporary immigration in the context of American history and shows how Churches in the United States are welcoming new members from different cultures and backgrounds. The film was produced by Fr. Daniel Groody, CSC in collaboration with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and Groody River Films.

Price $19.95 This film can purchased at http://www.livesforsale.com If you would like to show full-length films during breaks at your Food Fast, a good source of reviews of current movies as well as a list of recommended films would be the USCCB’s Office for Film and Broadcasting http://www.usccb.org/movies/

Price: $15

One Border, One Body: Immigration & the Eucharist The film focuses on the annual celebration of the bishops, priests in the U.S.-Mexico border where a sixteen-foot iron fence divides the community in half but nonetheless they pray and worship together. More than just another documentary on immigration, this film is a meditation of the Kingdom of God, a globalization of solidarity, and a journey of hope. The documentary is produced by award winning filmmaker John Carlos Frey and Fr. Daniel Groody, CSC of the University of Notre Dame. Price: $25

Food

12

Fast

Icebreakers These icebreakers are designed to be fun and interactive, and will give participants opportunities to get to know each other during the retreat. You may want to take a few minutes after an icebreaker to “debrief” and allow participants to share their thoughts about the activity.

Option 1: Get-to-Know-You Bingo (20 Minutes)

Leader: Almost all the time, we’re going to be called to give more than we think we have. When we are dared to move, God has a specific task in mind that only we can do. Every gift, every talent, every ounce of will that we have will be put into action – that’s what it means to be a disciple. Can God count on you to go the distance?

Activity Summary The object of this game is to get to know other group members.

Materials Needed



Bingo Cards (Food Fast CD-ROM), markers, Questions to Think About (Food Fast CD-ROM)

We dare you to move across the room, fill in 3 more spaces on your card and then go one step further and find a new person to fill space #28. [When you find that person, both of you sit and discuss question #7 or #8.] On your mark, get set, GO!

Procedure Give each participant a Bingo card and marker. Read the statements one at a time and have participants find someone to fill their Bingo space.

Debrief Gather group together. Is there anything anyone wants to share? Did they learn something new about someone in the group?

Option: If you want to give participants more time to interact, read a question from Questions to Think About, giving them time to discuss it. After a few minutes read the next statement.

Option 2: My Journey (15 Minutes)

Leader: Sometimes we think we’re not good enough…or fast enough… or pretty enough… or rich enough… But when God dares us to move, it’s because we are perfect just the way we are…When the opportunities come we have to make a choice.

Activity Summary In this activity, participants will get to know something about each others life journey while in motion.

We dare you to move to another place in the room and find someone to fill space #93 on your card. [When you find that person, both of you sit and discuss question #1 or #2.] On your mark, get set, GO!

Materials Needed My Journey script (Food Fast CD-ROM)

Procedure Participants spread out around the room with at least an arms distance between each other.

Leader: Sometimes we forget who we are and where we came from… who we really belong to… maybe a larger family… a community… a school…a church. But really, we come from God, the one who made us and calls us beloved…the one who challenges us to be more than what we are now.

Enthusiastically read the script and adapt it as appropriate for your group. As participants share stories, music can be playing in the background. It should be turned down or off when directions are being given. Give a few minutes for each sharing time.

We dare you to go to a different place in the room and find someone new to fill space #61 on your card. [When you find that person, both of you sit and discuss question #3 or #4.] On your mark, get set, GO!

As the Journey story unfolds the participants move as directed on the handout.

Leader: Sometimes we’re the only one brave enough to make a move. Everyone else takes a pass… until there is no one else. And somebody’s got to do it… the world depends on it. It can be really scary, but God promises to be there every step of the way.

We dare you to go to a different place in the room and find someone new to fill space #782 on your card. [When you find that person, both of you sit and discuss question #5 or #6.] On your mark, get set, GO!

Food

13

Fast

Option 3: Hip, Hop, Hustle (15 minutes)

Option 4: Where are you from? (20 minutes)

Activity Summary

Activity

In this activity, participants will get to know each others names. This works best with groups of 10 or more. A soft ball or soft toy to throw.

This activity will allow participants to share their own family heritage with one another. At the end of the activity the participants will create an ancestry banner that you can hang around the room.

Procedure

Materials Needed:

Materials Needed

Paper, tape, markers

1. Participants gather in a circle (or circles depending on size of group).

Procedure

2. Participants introduce themselves to the person on their right and on their left.

If group is more than 20 then divide into groups of 5 to 10 participants.

3. One person begins by volunteering to be in the center of the circle with the ball.

Introduce the activity describing how participants will introduce themselves.

4. That person says “Hi, my name is …”

Distribute paper and markers. Ask participants to creatively write the new word for their ancestry and then tape the group’s words together.

5. The group responds “Hi, …” 6. The person in the center then chooses someone to surprise by throwing the ball to them.

Hang the ancestry banner around the room. Ask the whole group to read the group’s ancestry mix.

7. As the ball is thrown the person in the center will shout either “Hip”, “Hop” or “Hustle”

Leader:

• If “Hip” is called, the person receiving the ball must call out the name of the person to their right immediately.

Often when we meet someone the first time one of the first things we ask that person is, “Where are you from?” Sometimes when we meet someone of a different ethnic or racial background the question can be loaded as we assume that the person is visiting from another country and we’d be embarrassed to find out that person is actually from our own city or someone who looks like you is actually visiting from another country.

• If “Hop” is called, the person receiving the ball must call out the name of the person to their left, immediately. • If they cannot do it, take too long, become tongue tied or make a mistake, they go into the center of the circle. • At any time, the person inside the circle may choose to call “Hustle” instead of “Hip” or “Hop”. At this call, everyone must run to another spot in the circle at least two spaces away from where they were. At that point begin with the introductions again and carry on as before.

A more respectful way to ask this question when we are genuinely interested in a person’s background is, “What is your ancestry?” As we start the Food Fast let’s look at the diverse ancestries that we represent and that we celebrate. If you are not sure of your ancestry then try to think about your family tree as far as you can and share where your parents, grandparents or greatgrandparents originally came from. This is how we will do the introductions, state your name, your parents’ names, grandparents’ names, and your ancestry and create a new term to describe your ancestry (if you are aware of them!) For example, my name is…, son of… , grandchild of… and descended from Irish, Germans, Filipinos and Mexicans and I am an IriGerMexipino Distribute paper and markers Write down your newly coined term on the piece of paper, once you’re done we will tape them together to create our mixed ancestry banner. Hang the banner on a wall We come together to celebrate our shared heritage as Americans and Christians and affirming how we are enriched by the history of our ancestors, the people on whose shoulders we stand today so let’s read the banner altogether.

David Snyder/CRS

Food

14

Fast

Prayer Sessions The Prayer Sessions are designed to lead the participants to a deeper awareness of what it means to be in solidarity with their brothers and sisters throughout the world who are in need. Placed throughout the Food Fast experience, the prayer sessions draw them closer to Christ and to viewing the world through His eyes.

Option 1: Opening Prayer Service: Walking Solidarity (40 minutes) Materials Needed For Prayer Space: In your prayer space, include colors, textiles and ceramics that evoke the global nature of the Food Fast. Arrange the prayer table with a table cloth, Bible, cross (you might arrange several crosses and crucifixes from various countries if you have them), one or more statues or pictures of Mary (use images from a variety of countries), enough votive candles for everyone in the group, a box of matches or a fire starter, a basket of writing paper and pens, CD player, CD of “The Summons, Will You Come and Follow Me” by John Bell (GIA) or available for download at http://www.giamusic.com/search_details.cfm?title_id=100, instrumental music For Participants: Pens, Solidarity Partners (Food Fast CD-ROM) [cut apart and place in a basket], plastic name holders, Walking Solidarity Prayer (Food Fast CD-ROM) [hand these out before you begin the introduction], one pair of “flip flops” for everyone [These sandals can be written on and worn throughout the experience. You can either provide these for the group (you’ll need to get a general sense of how many need S, M or L) or have the participants bring a pair with them (make sure you have extras in all three sizes).]

Procedure Before the Prayer Service Arrange the prayer space. Set up chairs in a circle that extends out from either side of the prayer table. Leave about two to three feet around the table. If you invite participants to sit on the floor, make sure the table is low enough for all to see it. Select two readers for the prayer “Blessed Are”. Have them review it through ahead of time, so the reading goes smoothly. Select one reader for the Scripture. Walking Solidarity Prayer Service Leader: All over the world, people in poverty are on their feet. They are on the move. Some make the flight of the refugee, negotiating the frantic escape from violence. Some walk the perpetual route of physical labor, traveling daily to far-away work sites, hauling food and water from distant sources, bearing goods between farm field and market. Others follow the migration patterns of opportunity, trailing the wake of the work and schooling that left ahead of them or call to them across huge distances.

As Catholics we are called to walk in solidarity with people on the margins, with people who lack resources and power. Solidarity with others requires us to carry a bit of their experience with us, to make their hope our hope.



We’re familiar with being in common cause with friends or family members. But what about people who are not nearby, who we do not know, but about whom we are called to be concerned? Symbols, ritual and prayer can help us here. For our Food Fast experience we’ll use a variety of signs and symbols to help us develop this spiritual practice of solidarity.



Solidarity Partners



The first and most obvious sign will be our hunger. Usually hunger pangs prompt us to get something to eat. Throughout this experience, our hunger pangs will be an invitation to pray. In fact throughout our Food Fast they can serve as a prompt to pray a specific prayer for a specific person. You’re invited to meet that person right now.

Pass around a basket that contains the pictures of solidarity partners and invite the participants to pick out a picture at random. Then pass around the name tag holders and have the participants put the picture in the holder.

The picture you have chosen at random will be your solidarity partner for the rest of the Food Fast. Take a moment to read the back of the card to learn a little about them.



We know very little about this person other than what is written on the back of the card. That is often the case with global solidarity. To help our imaginations span the distance, we’ll carry our solidarity partners with us throughout the Food Fast. We will hold them up in prayer and meditate on what their lives might be like. They will accompany us and we will accompany him or her.

Food

15

Fast



Breath Prayer



On the back of the photo is also a small prayer that we’ll learn now. It’s a breath prayer, which means that each line is prayed silently as you either inhale or exhale. A breath prayer is as long as two breaths, and once you have it down it can be like a mantra, repeated meditatively. Or it can serve as a quick little prayer to refocus you on the call to be in solidarity.

Invite the participants to silently read the prayer on the back of the card. Then as you read each line, invite them to pray along silently with you as you direct them when to inhale and exhale. Finally, give the group a few moments to pray the breath prayer silently without direction. As you begin or end sessions throughout the fast, you can use the breath prayer as way of centering the group.

When you experience pangs of hunger during the Food Fast, it can serve as a reminder to stop and say your breath prayer for your solidarity partner.



Sandals Another symbol that will call us to walk in solidarity with the poor will be our feet, or more specifically what we have on our feet.

Pass out the flip flops or if you have asked participants to bring them from home, have them take them out now.

Consider for a moment how many pairs of shoes you own, and the different uses they are for. Show of hands: How many would say they have fewer than five pairs of shoes? How many have more than 5 … more than 10 … more than 20 … more than 50?



What are the shoes for? [Have the group share examples …]



During the Food Fast, these flip flops will replace the shoes that you brought with you. They too will be a reminder of the walk you are sharing with the world’s poor today. And they will also help us record some of the insights we gather on the walk.

Group prayer Song: “The Summons” by John Bell [download lyrics] Leader: Lord Jesus we are striving to answer your call to follow you. Bless the people whom we carry with us today. We know them only by their faces and a few sentences. You know the length of their histories, the breadth of their stories, the depths of their hearts. You know them as you know us all – as your beloved. Teach us the ways of solidarity as we follow you on your migrant path, your itinerant way, into the hearts of all who seek a home with you. Amen… Blessed Are [available on Food Fast CD ROM] Reader 1: Blessed are those who are on the move, transforming exodus and flight into energy for a new search. From the victims will come the protagonists of history. Reader 2: Blessed are those who, forced to wander without direction, with wisdom learn and teach the lesson for the road. They will be the architects of a new time. Reader 1: Blessed are those who suffer pain, nostalgia, loneliness, yet know how to make of every arrival a new beginning. They shall act with faith, hope and love. Reader 2: Blessed are those who open borders and mix anthems, flags, races and creeds. Without discrimination, they make the world everyone’s home. Reader 1: Blessed are the wayfarers of the roads. In the tears, sweat and the work of their hands they prepare a tomorrow of justice and right. Reader 2: Blessed are those who open the door to pilgrims, making solidarity the passport to our common homeland. They are constructing new citizenship. Reader 1: Blessed are those who foment encounters and re-encounters, sowing peace. They will harvest flowers and stars in the new heaven and the new earth. Reader 2: Blessed are the excluded, without opportunities, without voice. They will be the first guests in the great banquet, where bread will not be lacking on anyone’s table. “Blessed Are” by Fr. Jose Alfredo Goncalve in Prayer Without Borders, ©2004, Catholic Relief Services Leader: Please stand and prepare to receive the Word of God. Scripture: Luke 9: 57-62 Leader: Please be seated. Following Jesus usually requires us to leave something behind. For example, Jesus was constantly admonishing his followers to walk away from behaviors, attitudes and beliefs that got in the way of love of compassion. Take a few moments and reflect on something in your life from which you would like to walk away, something that is not welcome on this journey with Jesus. Food

16

Fast



Give the group time to think. If it’s a large group, have them share with the person next to them. If the group is small they can share with everyone. Now on your flip flops, write a few words about what you are walking away from. Throughout the Food Fast feel free to write additional thoughts, quotes or insights that you want to remember on your flip flops.

Optional Shoe Offering Leader: As a sign of what we are leaving behind, and the new journey we are sharing through our Food Fast, take the shoes and socks you came with and place them around our prayer table and return to your place. While participants are doing this, instrumental music can be played in the background. Leader: You are now ready for the journey. You have an idea of something you are leaving behind. You have someone to share the way with you. You have a portable prayer to help keep you in step. Please join me in closing this activity by praying the Walking Solidarity Prayer. Closing Song: Play the last two verses of “The Summons”.

Option 2: Stations of the Journey (three - 30 minute sessions) This is a prayer service that is divided into three parts to be used during the Food Fast. As we find out more about the journey of migrants and their struggle for work and food we can walk with them in solidarity, throughout the fast, returning again and again to their story. Just as Christ suffered, on his journey to his crucifixion, (marked by the Stations of the Cross), this prayer marks Christ’s struggle in the person of the migrant, through the Stations of the Journey.

Materials Needed For Prayer Space: Four areas (stations) set up with tables at each, votive candles for each table, central prayer space with candle representing the light of Christ, CD player, soft instrumental music for reflection, CD of “Go Light Your World” by Kathy Troccoli from Sounds of Heaven (Reunion), signs to mark the 9 stations in the journey, a small bell to call participants back to central space for prayer For Stations: Station 1: “I Will Return” (Food Fast CD-ROM), sheets of paper and pens or pencils Station 2: Pipe cleaners or sticks for making small crosses, yarn or pipe cleaners to secure the crosses, basket to hold completed crosses Station 3: Small stones on which words will be written in permanent marker, fine point permanent markers, basket or glass bowl to hold stones Station 4: Sheets of paper and writing implements, basket to hold prayers for compassion Station 5 and 6: Reflections Handout Station 7: Water bottles for each participant (ask participants to bring a reusable water bottle), copy of John 4: 1– 42 (The woman at the well) Station 8: A water jug and bowl for washing of feet, towels, copy of John 13: 1 – 7 (Jesus washing the feet of the disciples), download words for “Go Light Your World”, copies of “My Burden is Light” (Food Fast CD-ROM) Station 9: no materials needed

Procedure First prayer session (set up tables in advance for first four stations only)

Procedure Gather the participants in a central prayer location, in the center of which is a Christ candle. Explain that whenever you need to gather as a group in prayer at this place, a bell will ring. Leader: Thank you for giving up your time today to attend this Food Fast. Let us take a few moments to quiet ourselves and consider those for whom we are here.

Pause…

Food

17

Fast



We invite you to convert this experience into a prayer for justice, so that all people can enjoy what our good God has provided. As we light the Christ candle, we are reminded that Jesus is with us today as we gather together in solidarity with our brothers and sisters around the world. Let us consider the journey we are about to make, as we accompany in spirit those mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters forced to leave their homes and loved ones in search of work, food, security and a better life.



Around the room are four stations that you are invited to visit in silence. At each station is a reflection you may participate in. You may choose to do only one, or you may do more, whatever you feel drawn to do. Take your time as you journey from one station to the other. If there are a lot of people at one, wait patiently for your turn.

First Station: Jesus is condemned to leave his family and search for work and food Leader: You are invited to walk to the First Station where you will find the poem “I Will Return”, without a final verse. You may spend quiet time reflecting on the message and then complete the poem on the paper provided. Once you have completed the poem it can be placed in the basket on the table. Second Station: Jesus carries his cross Leader: At the Second Station you are invited to spend time in quiet reflection of the sacrifices made by migrants as you assemble a cross from the materials provided. Remember the pain the migrants carry with them as they leave families and familiar surroundings. Remember too the sadness and loss felt by those they have left behind. When you are ready leave the cross you have made in the basket on the table. Third Station: Jesus falls the first time Leader: You are invited to spend time in quiet reflection of the arduous and challenging journey made by most migrants, filled with obstacles and stumbling blocks. Many of them face the possibility of abuse, deception, being robbed or even losing their lives along the way. The stones represent the migrant’s struggle. Write a word that represents that struggle on the stone with permanent marker, and leave it in the basket or bowl on the table. Fourth Station: Jesus meets the people of compassion Leader: Consider how we are called by Jesus to be people of Christian compassion. What does that mean? Pause… What does that look like? Pause... Sound like? Pause... Feel like? Pause... How can we make this compassion real as we welcome the strangers among us, especially the newly arrived migrants who arrive with their challenges and fears? You are invited to write a short prayer for compassion and leave it in the basket on the table. *If size of group is large, invite each person to visit one station only. Play instrumental music during the station reflections. Once some time has passed, ring a small bell to call the participants back to the central prayer area. When all have reassembled, recite the following prayer.

Dear Lord, Just as you took the journey to your crucifixion, to offer yourself as a sacrifice for us. Be with us, as we offer our time and prayers for those members of our human family also making a sacrificial journey, to save those they love from the devastation of poverty and hunger. May you protect them on their journey and comfort those they have left behind. We ask this in your name, AMEN.

All the baskets are collected and brought to the central prayer space. They will be incorporated into later prayer sessions. Option: Invite participants to prayerfully place their reflection pieces in the prayer space where the group gathers. End of First Prayer Session Second Prayer Session (mostly done in silence) Tables are prepared for the second prayer session. Stations 5, 6 and 7 can be set up in the same place as earlier stations or moved to a different space. Fifth Station: Jesus falls the second time (participants may gather at this table for written reflection on the facts and information so far gained on the issues of migration and hunger). See Reflection Handout Sixth Station: A person of compassion helps Jesus to carry his cross (participants may gather at this table to reflect on what can be done, what our responsibility is as Christians). See Reflection Handout Seventh Station: Jesus is given food and water (when water is distributed to participants this could coincide with the second prayer session) A prayer of thanks can be given for the water of life and the water of eternal life. The story of the woman at the well could be used in this prayer session: John 4: 1–42). Procedure The bell signals the participants to return to the central prayer area.

Food

18

Fast

Leader: Now that we have spent some time reflecting on those who migrate, I would like to invite you to spend some time in quiet reflection. At stations 5 and 6 are reflection sheets for you to fill in. At station 7 is water.

For the next few minutes, take some time to think and respond to the questions posed at stations 5 and 6. Then when you are finished, pick up your water bottle at station 7, and return to this central prayer space and wait in silence.

Have participants visit each station as in the first prayer session. Play soft instrumental music throughout this session. Once the participants have reassembled in the center with their water bottles, conclude the prayer session with the reading from John 4: 1–42 about Jesus meeting the woman at the well. Leader: As you enjoy the refreshing and life giving properties of water, bring to mind those for whom water is an extremely scarce commodity. We also remember those migrants who die due to lack of water as they cross the desert (especially those who have lost their lives in the U.S.-Mexico border.) Listen now to the words of John’s gospel about the water of life. Read John 4: 1-42

Lord, we ask you to give us gratitude for all the wonderful gifts you provide.



For water, when there are so many still thirsty.



For food, when there are so many still hungry.



For shelter, when there are so many traveling from place to place, without a place to call home.



For companionship, when there are so many making the journey alone.



We ask also, for compassion and strength, so that we become bread for the journey, voices of peace and hope, people who work for justice, so that your love can shine through us in the lives of those in most need. We ask this in your name, the giver of life, AMEN.

End of Second Prayer Session Third Prayer Session Tables are prepared for the final prayer session. Stations 8 and 9 can be set up in the same place as earlier stations or moved to a different space. Eighth Station: A person of compassion washes the feet of Jesus (Participants perform a foot washing ritual as an act of humility and compassion for those who suffer while being forced to move from place to place. The ground they cover becomes sacred ground.) Ninth Station: Jesus blesses the people of compassion (Commissioning of participants can happen here)

Procedure This final prayer session can incorporate the ritual of washing of feet. It is important to share with the participants the symbolic meaning contained within this ritual. Jesus, in an act of humility washed the feet of his disciples. It was an act of compassion toward those who had been on a journey. Your feet would be tired, dusty and maybe even blistered from all the traveling, so having another person wash your feet is a gesture of service, humility and compassion. The ground the migrant workers travel becomes sacred in their quest to take care of those they love. They walk on holy ground. Explain how the ritual will be conducted. Depending on the space available and the size of the group, one or more tables with water bowls, jugs and towels should be set up along with a chair. One person will wait by the station for another to come forward. After each person has had their feet washed, they wait to perform the ritual for the next person. The person who washed the first pair of feet will be the last person to have their feet washed. That ensures that every person can participate in both aspects of the ritual. A short commissioning prayer can be said by the person doing the washing. Such as: As we prayed these stations of the journey we walked with our migrant brothers and sisters and remembered the challenges they faced in their journey. We were invited to respond to the migrants plight with compassion and as we end our time may we remember to continue to walk in the light of Christ, walk with Christ and walk for Christ. Once feet are washed the participants may sit quietly around the Christ candle where are gathered the baskets containing the crosses, the prayers of compassion, the poetry and the stones all made in earlier prayer sessions. As the feet washing ritual is taking place, invite those seated around the Christ candle to reflect on the words written about compassion, the words on the stones, and the words written as a final verse of “I will return”. When all are gathered, end the session with a blessing and read together the prayer “My Burden is Light”. End with the sign of peace and invite the participants to take from the prayer space, a symbol of the journey they have taken on the Food Fast. They may carry another’s cross as they leave, or a prayer for compassion, or a stone to remind them of the struggle.

Food

19

Fast

Close the session with “Go Light Your World” by Kathy Troccoli. Many young people already know this song. Option: An art activity that can be worked on during the Food Fast that will connect all the prayers is to make banners for each of the 9 stations using dowel rods, cord, and felt. The banners could be used in a final procession during the commissioning and later displayed in the school chapel or hallways.

Option 3: Mary, Mother of Migrants (20 minutes) Materials Needed Copies of Mary, a Mother of Migrants Prayer and Litany of Prayer to Mary (Food Fast CD-ROM), paper and pens in a small basket (this can be kept on the prayer table throughout the Food Fast), small votive candles for all participants, CD player, version of the Magnificat that the group can sing together such as “My Soul Rejoices in My God” by Gary Ault, Mike Balhoff, Buddy Ceasar (OCP) or CD of “My Soul Rejoices” by Jackie Francois from Never Too Young (OCP) or available for download from http://www.spiritandsong.com/ musicondemand/songs/76229, CD of “I Say ‘Yes,’ My Lord/ Digo ‘Si,’ Señor” by Donna Peña from Música para la Iglesia de Hoy (OCP) or to listen to the song go to http://www.ocp.org/songs/15553

Procedure Prepare the prayer space. Have one central candle already lit. Set the votive candles on the prayer table around the statue or pictures of Mary. Assign the Scripture reader and readers for the litany of prayer to Mary beforehand. Split the group into an A side and a B side for this prayer. Leader: Let us center ourselves in prayer by taking a few moments to breathe deeply and silently pray: “Jesus, we hunger for justice. Walk with us and feed us with your compassion.” Option: Let us center ourselves in prayer by taking a few moments to pray our breath prayer, repeating it a few times. Opening Song (Consider singing a version of the Magnificat or you can play “My Soul Rejoices” by Jackie Francois) Leader: Let us pray… Mary, Mother of Migrants Prayer (Food Fast CD-ROM) Reading of Matthew 2: 13-21 Leader: The story of the holy family in exile has particular meaning for migrants and refugees throughout the world. Paul John Paul II referred to the Blessed Mother especially as the “mother of migrants”. Shrines to Mary throughout Latin America are often filled with notes asking for her intercession in the travels of migrants.

Mary is often called “Mama Maria” in Africa, where the image of a mother who intercedes for her children resonates throughout the culture. In Asia, Mary is revered for her qualities as a compassionate mother of mercy.



In solidarity with the world’s displaced people, this prayer time is devoted to asking for Mary’s intercession for people who are on the move, seeking a safe and sustainable future.

Pass the basket of note paper and pens around.

Consider what you have learned and experienced in our Food Fast so far. In this small shrine to the “Mother of Migrants” what would you ask Mary to pray for? Write a small note, and when you are done, lay it on our prayer table at the feet of Mary and light one of the votive candles from the lit candle.

Invite any sharing or comments that participants would like to make at this point. What have they written upon their sandals? What are they struggling with? Leader: Please join us in this litany of prayer to Mary (Food Fast CD-ROM). The response is “Help us bear peace to the world” (This litany can be lead in three voices) Leader: Lord Jesus, please receive the petitions that we have laid at the feet of your mother Mary, and hear too our questions, our struggles and our stories. You were carried by loving parents away from the threat of violence and into safety in a far-away place. You were too young to know the dangers of the way, the fear of flight. You knew only love and deliverance. Help us to learn from Mary the grace of accompaniment and care in the call of solidarity. Deliver all people who are on the move, who know fear, who seek safe and hopeful rest.

Amen.

Closing Song Suggestion: “I Say ‘Yes,’ My Lord/Digo ‘Si,’ Señor” by Donna Peña Note: Don’t forget to blow out the votive candles before moving to the next activity.

Food

20

Fast

Option 4: Late Night Rosary (45 minutes) Materials Needed Rosaries, tapers with drip guards, matches, soft instrumental music such as Gregorian chants, CD player Note to Planners In this optional prayer service, participants are wakened during the night to gather in the prayer space for a late-night rosary. The experience reflects the fact that migrants, refugees and others who are dislocated are often required to travel in the middle of the night. The experience of being wakened and brought to prayer puts the participants in solidarity with those who must be ready to move on a moment’s notice. Invite participants to indicate whether they want to participate in this service. They will not be told when it will occur, but will be wakened to participate. You might want participants to put a sign by their cot or sleeping bag so they can be easily found by flashlight. Have flashlights available for participants to use to find their way to the prayer space.

Procedure **A great resource for leading a rosary that reflects migration and refugee issues is “Unity in Diversity: A Scriptural Rosary,” prepared for National Migrant Week in 2002. A copy can be found at http://www.usccb.org/mrs/nmw/Rosary.pdf.) Plan to have this prayer service after people have settled down for the night and it has grown quiet perhaps around 12:30am. Designate a female volunteer to wake girls who are participating and a male to wake boys. If there is no light in the sleeping area, the volunteer might provide a few flashlights for the participants to aid them as they are escorted to the prayer space. To arrange the prayer space, turn out or dim the lights. Light all the votive candles. Provide a flashlight for anyone who will be reading. At the prayer space provide each participant with a rosary and with a candle that they can then light from the votives on the prayer table. While participants are gathering have quiet music playing, perhaps Gregorian chants to evoke the monastic practice of late night prayer. Prayer Service As participants enter give them a candle to light from the prayer table Leader: Welcome to our late night prayer service. By joining us you are putting yourself in prayerful solidarity with those who find themselves on the move in the middle of the night: the refugee forced to flee conflict or sudden natural disaster, the migrant making a night journey through the desert, laborers who must leave long before sunrise to reach their place of work.

Consider too our own spiritual ancestors who traveled under cover of darkness. When Christianity was punishable by death, early Christians had to find secret places and odd hours to meet for worship. We share in their legacy as well.



Before we begin our late-night rosary, let us listen to the story of a prophet who encountered the very voice of God in the middle of the night.

Scripture: Samuel 3: 1-10 Leader: Please blow out your candles now – wait a moment for the wax to dry before setting them down.

As Samuel was called out of his sleep, so have we been called to listen prayerfully to the voice of God. The rosary is one of the most cherished Catholic prayers. It is a devotion that travels well in pockets and purses and backpacks. The rosary’s repetition allows us to become attuned to the promptings of God. Its prayers and mysteries evoke the solidarity of God incarnate as Jesus and remind us of Mary’s devotion and her discipleship.

Choose one of the sets of mysteries and lead the participants in a rosary, inviting them to take turns leading the group in saying the Hail Mary. You might want to provide a brief introduction on the prayers of the rosary for participants unfamiliar with this devotion. When the rosary is finished invite the participants to quietly return to their sleeping area.

Food

21

Fast

Option 5: Triumphant Procession and Sacred Spiral (30 minutes) Materials Needed: A piece of card stock (8.5 x 11) for each person; punch a hole at the two top corners, Provide a length of yarn that can be attached to the holes in the card and hung around one’s neck, several fat markers that can be passed in a basket for writing a word on the card stock, “We Are Marching in the Light of God” [download sheet music and words in English and Zulu at http://www.ocp.org/songs/30247 and other music suggestions below]

Procedure The Space Reflecting the movement of people, this prayer service begins with a procession and ends with the line of participants forming a spiral that turns in the center and concludes in a large circle. You might want to begin the procession from your prayer space or from the location of your last activity. The spiral requires a space large enough to accommodate the entire group standing in a circle. The space within the circle must be empty to allow for the walking spiral. The Procession The procession can be as short or as long as you’d like to make it. It can be a short walk from the location of the last activity, ending in a larger space in the building. The procession can wind throughout the building where you are holding the Food Fast and can feature several songs. Or you can take it to the streets, walking around the neighborhood while singing (avoid a route that crosses streets). It can be a joyous procession with the addition of rhythm instruments or tambourines. Or it can be a solemn procession walked to the steady beat of drum. The procession leader leads the way, carrying a processional cross that can be easily seen from the back of the line. Traveling Music “We Are Marching in the Light of God” [download sheet music and words in English and Zulu at http://www.ocp.org/songs/30247]. The phrase in Spanish is: Caminamos en la luz de Dios. Option: Teach songs for the procession earlier in the Food Fast as energizers so that when you are ready for the procession no one needs words. For Marching in the Light of God , you might split the group in three parts and teach one group the English version, one the Zulu version and one the Spanish version, or teach the entire group all three. Other song ideas: “This Little Light of Mine”, “Amazing Grace”, “We are going”, “Ubi Caritas” and “Dona Nobis Pacem” from the Taize community and available at www.giamusic.com Pulse Prayer and the Sacred Spiral For the culminating prayer and spiral, the procession leader guides the group to the final location and forms a large circle. Invite everyone to join hands. Announce that all will be invited to share a brief prayer or petition if they wish. Explain that you will send a pulse, or squeeze of the hand, around the circle. When the pulse comes to each person, they will have the chance to share. If they choose not to share they just pass the pulse along to the next person. When the pulse returns to the group leader, s/he begins the sacred spiral. Here’s how to lead the spiral in the words of Bob Kloos, artistic director of Beacon Street Performing Arts in Ministry, based in Cleveland: Introduce the sacred spiral as a ritual walk. Request silence and attentiveness. Leader: We will be walking slowly, reflectively, with eyes wide open. Simply begin to walk with the line when it begins to move. Look at one another as you pass by.

Let go of the person’s hand on your left, and begin to walk slowly just inside the circle. You will be facing the center of the circle. Keep the line of people on the outside just a foot off your left shoulder. (Go clockwise at first.) And remember, you just can’t walk too slowly. It will take a while before everyone is moving, especially if you have more than 40 in the group. If you start too quickly, the last part of the line will be “cracking the whip” by the time they start walking.



Keep walking slowly, looking at faces, and winding your way toward the center. It should be slow and thoughtful.

People will begin to wonder what’s up as you wind closer to the center. When the open space in the center is just five feet in diameter, cross the center and make an outside turn to the left. (See Sacred Spiral diagram) As you do this, you will find yourself facing the outside of the circle and walking your way out as people on both sides continue to walk toward the center. Continue counterclockwise at the slow pace.

Food

22

Fast

Sacred Spiral Diagram

Eventually, you will pass by the last person in line. Shortly after that, turn right so that you are now facing the center of the circle again, going clockwise once more. Move slowly as you circle the entire group. As you do this, you will see the end of the line get to the center and reverse. Before long, you will see the last in line turn to face the center again. At this point, you might have been able to pace yourself to join hands again with that last person. Slow to a stop. Doing this with half a dozen volunteers will give you a pretty good idea of what it will be like with many more. The Prayer Service Leader: Our Food Fast is drawing to an end. Throughout it we have done our best to fall into step with the world’s poor. To a small degree we have shared their hunger, not only the need for food, but also the hunger for justice and for peace. We have tried to understand the experience of people in poverty by entering their stories. We have walked in different shoes. Perhaps we’ve stumbled at times. In all of this we’ve been on a walk with Christ. While such a walk always involves the cross, it never ends there. It always leads further to resurrection, new life, new hope.

At the beginning of the Food Fast we selected a word signifying something that we wanted to walk away from during this experience. Now that we are closing our time together, the question we face is ‘what will we walk toward?’ Take a moment to consider one word or short phrase to describe something that will be different in your life as a result of this Food Fast, some quality that you would like to walk toward, a word that signifies new life for you.

Pass out the pieces of card stock and markers. Invite the participants to write their words or phrases in large letters on the thick paper. You can invite anyone who wishes to explain his or her word to the group. Then hang the word around their necks. Leader: Let us pray… Jesus you are the Word of Truth. Bless our own words as we walk toward new life and a new vision of what the world can be like. Help us to proclaim them boldly, to live them courageously, to bear them hopefully. We pray this in your name. All:

Amen

Read Isaiah 55: 1-3; 10-13 Leader: Just as Isaiah promised, God’s Word travels forth through us. It travels in the words we carry, in the hope we have. So we’re going to take our word out from this place in a joyous procession. We’ll follow the cross bearer and we’ll sing as we go. As the procession begins, start singing “Marching in the Light of God.” Add other songs as needed, depending on the length of the prayer walk. The cross bearer and prayer leader guide the procession, ultimately ending up in the area for the final prayer and forming a large circle. Introduce the pulse prayer. When the group is done sharing, introduce the sacred spiral as a final, reflective walk of solidarity. Invite the group members to be attentive to the faces of the people passing by and the words they are wearing. When the spiral has returned to the full circle conclude with the Lord’s Prayer. Closing Song: A reprise of “Marching in the Light of God”

Sean Sprague for CRS

Food

23

Fast

Learning Opportunities These sessions will focus on a particular topic for an in-depth learning experience. Participants will engage in critical thinking and discussion, and gain a deeper understanding of the topics addressed.

Option 1: New Eyes (1 to 1 ½ Hours) Objective Through this activity participants will: • Explore a section of their city that is unfamiliar; • Role-play the life of a migrant; • Reflect on the issues surrounding food security.

Activity Summary This off-site, border experience is designed to increase young people’s awareness of the issues of hunger and poverty within their own city. The goal is to use public transportation, specifically the local bus system, to travel through an unfamiliar neighborhood with the focused intention of seeing people and places with new eyes. This requires that the group leader designate an area to visit, and then research bus routes and schedules. An opportunity for face-to-face encounter could be planned with a social service agency, a CCHD-funded group or parish during the excursion, but the activity will also work if participants remain on the bus for the duration of the experience.

Materials Needed Pre-planned bus route with schedule for your local area, including bus fare for participants Encounter Journal (Food Fast CD-ROM), pens or pencils for participants, New Eyes Guided Meditation (Food Fast CD-ROM)

Procedure Before the Food Fast Decide ahead of time which routes and schedules that the group will take. Be sure to include at least one transfer to a different bus. If possible, do this activity with the adult leaders before the actual retreat day, so they will be better prepared to process the experience with the young people. Plan for the bus ride to take a total of about 45 to 60 minutes roundtrip, allowing approximately 30 minutes for group processing and debriefing upon return to your site. Make sure that you have ground rules for the duration of the journey. Before the Ride Invite participants to get into a comfortable position, distant enough from other participants so as not to be distracted. Leader: Before we embark on our journey let us come together in prayer and remember that we are in God’s presence. In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit…

We come Lord before you to seek new eyes, open our hearts and minds as we prepare to travel around our city. May we also remember the migrants who take on journeys through unfamiliar places in search of a better life.

With eyes shut and bodies still, ask them to listen and imagine themselves in Jose’s story. Read the New Eyes Guided Meditation at a slow pace, so that the participants have time to reflect silently as they listen. After the prayer, ask participants to spend some time in silence reflecting on these two questions: What made Jose feel like he had to leave his home? Do you think he will reach his destination? If so, what do you think he will find? Now, imagine that you too are like Jose and find it necessary to leave your home and find a place where you can have enough food and shelter, and maybe be able to make a better life for yourself. Take the Encounter Journal and work through it as you ride the bus. Note: For those groups who have members that routinely use public transportation, adult leaders can work with these participants to prepare a guided tour of the neighborhoods for the other group members. For example, before your plan the Food Fast, ride the bus routes with those participants, identifying business owners, street vendors, workers or other people who are regularly present on those routes. If possible, make a personal contact with some or all of these people and ask if you can bring the other Food Fast participants back during the retreat. If you choose this option, your goal is not only to help participants to look at the world with new eyes, but also to engage their hearts through personal encounter. Go through group ground rules before the trip. Distribute the Encounter Journal. Food

24

Fast

After the Ride Give time for participants to write down their answers to the questions in the Encounter Journal. Gather the group and divide them into groups of a maximum of five members each. Appoint an adult leader to lead the discussion. Focus on the group processing questions in the Encounter Journal. After everyone has shared, gather the group together and if there is time ask a participant and not an adult leader from the groups to summarize key points that they had discussed.

Option 2: Mapping Movement of People (60 Minutes) Objective Through this activity, participants will learn where and why people move from their homes.

Activity Summary As a group, participants will identify countries where migration occurs and the reasons people move from their homes and countries.

Materials Needed Large board or paper, Principles of Catholic social teaching (Food Fast CD ROM), world map (Fasting Atmosphere Option 2: Mapping the World), pins with different head colors, World Migration Today (Food Fast CD-ROM), news magazines (e.g. Time, Newsweek) or internet pictures from news websites, scissors, tape, poster board, markers

Procedure Large Group Discussion To begin this activity, ask participants to share what they know about human migration. • What forms does migration take? (e.g. immigration, refugees, internally displaced persons, rural to urban migration, human trafficking, nomads) Define forms of migration or ask participants to provide definitions. • Why do people move from their homes and countries? (e.g. conflict, drought, economic reasons, hunger, etc.) • How do poverty and hunger affect people’s choice to migrate? Do poverty and hunger result, at times, from any kind of migration? • Do people have a choice to migrate? Why or why not? • What stereotypes exist about people who migrate? Write answers on a board or paper, including information provided on World Migration Today handout. Using information that has been shared, ask participants to identify countries on the map where different forms of migration are occurring. Assign pin colors to each migration form and mark the map so everyone can see where the country is and what type(s) of migration are taking place. [Your list can include more types of migration.] • Refugees • Internally Displaced Persons • Immigration • Rural to Urban Migration Option: Use World Food Programme Hunger Map. Ask participants to examine if countries with high rates of hunger experience greater forms of migration. Why might this be? Small Group Discussion Divide participants into small groups and hand each group a principle of Catholic social teaching (CST). Have each group reflect on their principle of CST and make a collage with pictures or text from the magazines that relate the principle to migration. (Consider placing these questions so each group can see them.) • How does the principle relate to migration? • How does the principle tell us to respond, as Catholics, to those who migrate? • What images or words from the news depict migration? Are these positive or negative images? Do they contradict your principle of CST? • By embracing this principle, will we respond to images of migration differently? Food

25

Fast

Large Group Discussion and Debrief Bring the group back together and have them present their collages. • As Catholics, how are we called to assist those that do migrate? What are you going to do after this Fast to assist those who migrate? • Which principles of CST tell us to respond, through our faith, to migration? • What has the group learned about types of migration? • Has anyone changed their opinion about people who migrate or the factors pulling and pushing people to migrate?

Option 3: Shared Journeys (60 Minutes) Objective Through this activity participants will: • Relate stories of migration from Scriptures and the migration history of their own families • Reflect on hunger as a cause of migration throughout history Activity Summary This activity will get participants to be creative while also reflecting on the shared history of migration in Scriptures and their own families. Materials Needed Bible, Migration Timeline (Food Fast CD-ROM), pens, Script of Joseph and his Brothers Revisited (Food Fast CD-ROM) Procedure I. God’s Story A. Begin with a sketch about the story of Jacob’s sons traveling to Egypt to appeal for food. (You can use Script of Joseph and his Brothers Revisited or ask youth leaders to present a skit based on Genesis 41:53-42:5; 45:25-46:4.) B. After sketch, discuss: 1. What story was the sketch you just saw based on? If no one guesses the presentation then ask someone to read Genesis 41:53-42:5; 45:25-46:4. 2. What happened during Joseph’s time? Why did Jacob and his sons migrate to Egypt? 3. Are there other stories from Scriptures where people migrated or fled bad situations? (Some examples are: The story of Abraham and Sarah leaving UR; the years the Israelites wandered in the desert; the return after the exile into Babylon; in the New Testament, the flight of Mary, Joseph and the infant Jesus into Egypt.) 4. What do these stories of the flight of refugees and the desire to find a better land tell us about our biblical ancestors? What does it tell us about God’s relationship with people? (See if the group can come up with these ideas: these stories remind us that God’s chosen people were migrants and refugees; God has always walked with the poor and the desperate and invited them to trust in God’s love for them. The incarnation is the greatest act of solidarity –Jesus was a refugee too. These stories remind us of the hope we have in God who delivers and saves.) II. Our story A. Distribute the Migration Timeline* and ask participants to fill them out. (You can also send the Migration Timeline home in advance, so that the participants will have an opportunity to interview family members and answer the questions as completely as possible. If participants are unable to obtain exact information about their ancestor’s migrations, encourage them to get general approximations of dates and region of origin.) B. Divide participants into groups of five. Ask them to share their answers in their group. After everyone has shared, ask the groups to come up with a creative presentation (skit, newscast, narrated mime, rap) that they will share with the large group focusing on the reasons why their ancestors came to the U.S. C. Afterward, discuss: 1. Based on the presentations, why did people migrate to the U.S.? 2. Does anyone’s family still tell stories of how your ancestors came to this country? What are some of the details that your families remember? Do you have artifacts that were brought over? 3. How does your family’s story connect you with the stories of migrants that you are aware of today? What do you have in common with today’s migrants? How is your story different? Food

26

Fast

4. A shared story can be the beginning of solidarity. How does this shared story of faith and of personal history invite you to respond to migrants today? 5. How can we accompany contemporary migrants in their struggle to feed their family and enable them to live with dignity? III. End Refer to Ancestry Banner (if you used Icebreaker Option 4: Where are you from?). It is not only our shared heritage that includes stories of migration but also our shared faith. Stories of people on the move are found in both the Old and New Testaments. People continue to be on the move today and for many it is a means to find food and sustenance for themselves and their families. May we continue to share in this journey as we walk with people in their struggle for a life where they can meet their basic needs and flourish as individuals. *This activity is based on The American Migration Timeline activity from the United States Catholic Bishops Conference Office of Migration and Refugee Services. The handout was used with their permission. To download the original activity, visit http://www.nccbuscc.org/mrs/ nmw/timeline.shtml.

Option 4: The Line in the Sand: Stories from the US/Mexico Border (45 minutes) Objective Through this activity participants will: • Listen to the compelling (or dramatic) telling of stories of people who are directly affected by or involved with the issue of migration along the U.S.-Mexico border • Be exposed to a variety of points of view on the complex and critical issue of immigration in the U.S. context.

Activity Summary This activity will involve either watching a video of a theatrical performance or an actual script reading of The Line in the Sand followed by a discussion.

Materials Needed The Line in the Sand DVD (order at http://crs.org/dramaproject/), DVD player, The Line in the Sand script (Food Fast CD-ROM)

Procedure This activity is best done halfway through the Food Fast after the participants have learned basic concepts on migration and reflected on them. There are two options for this activity. Option 1: Film showing of The Line in the Sand Prior to the Food Fast, order the free DVD, preview the film and read through the discussion guide. Introduce the activity by telling the participants that they are going to watch a dramatic theatre performance on DVD that tells the story of migration through the eyes of 9 different characters, each one based on a real person. Ask them to pay close attention to the stories and perspectives shared by the characters. After the film showing, give the participants a few minutes to reflect on what they have seen and heard. Use the discussion questions from the DVD to process the film. Option 2: Script reading of The Line in the Sand If you have participants who are involved with theatre you may want to ask them to do a script reading during the Food Fast. Prior to the Food Fast give them the script and practice with them. If you have a small number of participants you can also print out the script, form a circle, assign characters and go through an oral reading of the script with the participants. Introduce the activity by telling the participants that they are going to listen to or participate in a script reading that tells the story of migration through the eyes of 9 different characters, each one based on a real person. Ask them to pay close attention to the stories and perspectives shared by the characters. After the reading give the participants a few minutes to reflect on what they have seen and heard. If you did an oral reading with everyone you can invite participants to read a line that struck them. You can use the discussion questions from the DVD to process the reading. End the activity by inviting participants to take a moment of silence to pray for all the people who are affected by or involved with the issue of migration along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Food

27

Fast

Reflections These sessions will offer opportunities for silent reflection and time for participants to relax while they begin thinking through the issues being raised throughout the retreat.

Option 1: Would You Rather (30-45 Minutes) Objective Through this activity participants will: • Play a choice game that leads them into critical selfreflection and also in their relationships with others; • Discuss the issues surrounding hunger and poverty, displacement and migration.

Activity Summary This activity draws participants into critical thinking about global issues relating to hunger, poverty, displacement and migration. Beginning with more light-hearted decisions, individual reflection and small group faith-sharing lead to serious thought.

Materials Needed Copies of Would You Rather (Food Fast CD-ROM), pens/pencils

Procedure This activity is best done in a large open space.

Sean Sprague for CRS

Ask participants to make one straight line, each one behind another. Standing on a chair or other step where participants can see you, read each question on the Would You Rather handout, and indicate which side represents which choice. After each question, participants should step to one side or the other depending upon their choice. Each person should choose a side; there should be no one in the middle. There are no abstentions. After reading the questions in Part 1, ask the large group these questions: 1. How did it feel to be the only one or one of the only ones on your side? 2. Did you make your own choices or did you try to guess what other people would choose? Why or why not? 3. Did you feel any peer pressure to make one choice over another? Why or why not? Repeat using the questions in Part 2. Then, ask the large group these questions: 1. What types of choices are more important—those that involve you, or those that involve other people? 2. Which question did you find hardest to make a decision? Why? 3. What new insight did you learn about yourself from these choices? Repeat using the questions in Part 3. Then, break up into small groups. Give each person a copy of the Would You Rather handout and invite them to discuss their choices to the questions in Part 3. If time allows, share these answers in the larger group.

Food

28

Fast

Option 2: Do I Understand Where I Stand? (45 Minutes) Objective Through this activity participants will: • Reflect on their own assumptions/positions on the issue of migration • Learn and understand Church teaching on migration • Compare their personal position with the Church’s position on migration

Activity Summary Participants will go through a migration assumption inventory, articulate their assumptions/positions on migration and compare them with Church teaching on migration.

Materials Needed Migration Inventory, Migration Statements, Do I Understand Where I Stand? Journal, pen, Fast Quotes on Migration (Food Fast CDROM), paper and markers, CD player, CD of “Across the Border” by Bruce Springsteen from The Ghost of Tom Joad (ASCAP, 1995)

Procedure Gather the participants and ask them to spread out and sit down quietly. Distribute copies of the Migration Inventory. Read “Leader’s opening remarks” and give participants 5 minutes to fill out the worksheets, encouraging them to answer the questions truthfully and to consider closely their own views on migration. Leader’s opening remarks:

At times we do not fully consider why we hold our opinions on particular issues. In our country today, the topic of migration is complicated, and can be rather contentious and divisive. We are not here to debate the issue but rather to sit down and consider our own positions on the issue. There is no right or wrong answer. Often we forget that the way we view particular issues are influenced by what we hear and see from many sources—our family, friends, teachers, and even mass media all play roles. Today we take an opportunity to consider where we personally stand on the issue of migration, and to look into our viewpoints in view of what the Church teaches.

After participants fill out the worksheets, invite them to stand up and form a line. You will read the Statements on Migration. After each statement, invite participants to move towards the right side of the room if they agree with the statement and to the left if they disagree. If they are not sure about their position on the statement then they can just remain in place. To go further you can write down the statements in a poster board, post them around the room and ask participants to stand under the statement that they agree with the most or that they can personally relate to. Ask participants to share their reason for standing under that statement to the person beside them. After a few minutes ask the participants to stand under the statement they have the hardest time with or that they don’t understand. Ask them to share their reason for standing under the statement to the person beside them. After going through the statements, lead a 5 minute conversation about this exercise. Ask the participants what stood out for them or what they found difficult. Inform the participants that these statements are from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Office for Migration and Refugee Services. Distribute copies of the Statements on Migration, the Fast Quotes, and Do I Understand Where I Stand? Journal. Ask for volunteers to read aloud the Fast Quotes while the others follow silently. Give participants 15 minutes to compare their answers in the Migration Inventory with the Fast Quotes, and to answer the Do I Understand Where I Stand? Journal. If time permits, ask participants to pair up and discuss what they wrote down with each other, or to share some of their personal reflections with the entire group. Close by reading “Leader’s closing remarks” to the group, and playing the closing song. Leader’s closing remarks:

Migration is a complex issue and we need to continue to consider our positions on the issue. We are invited by the Church though to consider three basic principles:



People migrate to sustain their lives and the lives of their families. A country has the right to regulate its borders and to control immigration. A country must regulate its borders with justice and mercy.



As we continue with our Fast I ask you to continue to reflect on where you stand so that you can understand that despite the complexities of the issues we face in our world today, the first step towards real and effective action is understand our own views on any particular issue.

End activity by playing “Across the Border” by Bruce Springsteen.

Food

29

Fast

Option 3: You Make the Road by Walking (30 Minutes) Objective Through this activity participants will: • Take a moment to review what they have experienced and learned during the Food Fast • Think about concrete things they can do after the Food Fast on the issues of global poverty especially hunger and migration

Activity Summary This will be an activity that would be done near the end of the Food Fast to help participants to connect their fasting experience with global hunger and migration. Using the lens of the Catholic social teaching principle of solidarity, the participants will be challenged to think about concrete acts they can do after the Food Fast.

Materials Needed Food Fast poster, copies of Making Roads (Food Fast CD-ROM) for each participant, pens

Procedure Gather the group and ask them to sit around the room comfortably. Ask them to take out their Solidarity Partners card and to say the prayer for their companion in their Food Fast journey. Leader: How do you feel right now? Can you still do it for the next ___hours?

During this Food Fast we have been journeying with our poor brothers and sisters around the world, especially those who face the challenges of hunger and migration. I would like to affirm you for facing the challenge to be in this Food Fast, you made a choice to fast and to be here the past __hours. This is not the case for people who face hunger each day (they do not fast by choice) or who have to leave homes in search of a better life. The question though is what happens after this Food Fast and I would like to invite you think about it.

Take the Food Fast poster and show it to the participants. Read the quote and lead a short discussion around it. Leader: What does it mean to make the road by walking? I’ll give you some time now to reflect on this quote and ways that you can pay forward the Food Fast experience. Distribute Making Roads to the participants and allow time to answer the questions. Form groups of three and ask participants to share their response to the questions. Gather the group and lead a discussion. Invite participants to share their answers to the questions in the Making Roads sheet. Leader: As Catholics we are called by our faith to be in solidarity with the poor, to go beyond just feeling pity towards them. The quote from Pope John Paul II I believe speaks a lot to what this call demands that we have to commit to the common good, to find ways where the poor can live with dignity and flourish in this world. That seems like a daunting task, right?

But I do believe that you can make a difference, that you can make your own roads in this world.



By taking on the challenge of participating in this Food Fast you have actually taken a step towards making your own road in our world, in other words, you have taken a step to make a difference and to challenge the way that you think about the issue of hunger and migration and how you can respond to it.



I would now like to ask you to review your answers in the fourth question in the Making Roads sheet. Sign your name, write the date and ask two friends to read what you have written down and to affix their signature as well as a sign of their solidarity with you. These friends will promise to remind you about your commitment after the Food Fast by sending you a text message or email.



Aside from the personal commitments that you have as a group we can also make one or two commitments to make new roads in our community in the way we respond to the issue of hunger and migration.

Ask the group to agree on three things that you can do together to affirm your commitment to make new roads in our world. List them down on a poster board and ask participants to affix their signature.

To end this reflection let us read altogether the poem by Bishop Pedro Casadaliga in the Making the Roads handout.



It is a challenge to make a road in today’s world, to be counter-cultural, to make a difference. However, our faith is a faith that reminds of the resurrection of Jesus, that there is hope in the midst of challenges. By thinking about this issue and by the commitments that you have shared you have actually created roads that help people find their way.

Food

30

Fast

Energizers Energizers should be used several times during the retreat, when the energy level of your group is low or when you would like to get the participants up and moving. These energizers are easy to implement and are suitable for groups of any size.

Option 1: All Mine (20 minutes)

Option 2: Lighter than Air (15 Minutes)

Activity Summary

Activity Summary

The object of this game is to get all of the balls into your group’s circle.

The object of this game is to lower a plastic hoop to the ground without losing contact with the fingers.

Materials Needed

Materials Needed

One string or rope for each group—approximately 5 feet long, 3 small balls or rocks or similar objects per person, large open space

One 3 ft. diameter plastic hoop per small group of 3 people [groups can take turns], open space

Procedure

Procedure Divide into groups of 3 people.

Put all of the balls into the center of playing area. Divide participants into small groups, about 5-10 per group, depending on group size. Try to have a minimum of three groups. Using the rope, make a circle for each small group equidistant from the center group of balls. The object of the game is to get all of the balls into your own circle, following these rules: 1. Each person can only have one ball in hand at any time. 2. No balls may be thrown at any time.

Each group gathers equidistant around a hoop. At shoulder level, each person holds out their index fingers, palms down toward the ground. The leader places the hoop atop everyone’s fingers. Without losing contact between the hoop and the fingers, the group must lower the hoop down to the ground. (The hoop will actually rise unless the group works together and with patience.) Repeat several times using: different partners; without speaking; with eyes closed. Large Group Discussion

3. No one may guard any circle.

1. How does this relate to our image of the Body of Christ? What does that mean?

4. Balls may be taken from any group’s circle only after all of the balls have been taken from the center.

2. What connections could we make regarding our responsibilities to our brothers and sisters in the developing world?

Leader: Give groups 2 minutes to strategize.

3. In what ways can we work together to create a more just world?

On your mark! Get set! Go! Let groups play for 3 minutes. Stop! Give groups 2 more minutes to rethink their strategies. On your mark! Get set! Go! Let groups play for 3 minutes. Stop! Group processing: How is your strategy working? Is there anything your group can do differently to win the game? Give groups 2 more minutes to rethink their strategies. On your mark! Get set! Go! Let groups play for 3 minutes. Stop! Group processing: Is there a way to win this game? How? Answer: Someone has to lose in order for someone else to win. Or all groups can win if they become one team.

David Snyder/CRS

Food

31

Fast

Group Projects These Group Projects will offer Food Fast participants the opportunity to use their creative energy to share something they have learned during the retreat with the larger group. Time is allotted for the groups to work on their projects twice during the retreat schedule. Groups can also use “free time” to work on their projects if needed. These projects can also be shared with the larger school or parish community.

Option 1: Stations on the Journey Banners (90 Minutes) Objective Through this activity participants will: • Create banners that will illustrate the journey and struggle of migrant workers • Consider the obstacles and hardship faced by those seeking employment and food.

Activity Summary Participants will work collaboratively to create banners that mark the journey of migrants. The banners can be representative of the journey Christ took to his crucifixion. Instead of Stations of the Cross we have Stations of the Journey. These banners can be incorporated into the final commissioning prayer session in procession or as back drop. They may also be displayed later in the church or school community. This activity will be done in two sessions.

Materials Needed Felt or other cloth material for banner already cut to preferred size, felt pieces or cloth pieces for decorating banner, other craft embellishments available from craft stores, fabric paints, paint brushes, glue, stapler, scissors, dowel rod from which to suspend banner, rope or cord to attach banner, paper and pencils for sketching rough designs Note: You are encouraged to reuse old cloths or banners and replace other craft embellishments with recycled materials

Procedure Session One (60 Minutes) Begin by explaining the activity to the participants. They will be divided into nine groups. Each group will be assigned a particular station from the Stations of the Journey. A discussion can be led to encourage the participants to see Jesus in the person of the migrant worker before they begin. Participants will begin by discussing symbols and designs that will represent the particular station on the journey that they have been assigned. All participants should brainstorm possible designs and work them out on paper before creating the banner. Materials should be laid out for all groups to share. • First Station: Jesus is condemned to leave his family and search for work and food. • Second Station: Jesus carries his cross (in the form of a migrant worker) • Third Station: Jesus falls the first time (encounters obstacles along the way) • Fourth Station: Jesus meets the people of compassion (the youth on Food Fast and others) • Fifth Station: Jesus falls the second time (further obstacles) • Sixth Station: A person of compassion helps Jesus to carry his cross • Seventh Station: Jesus is given food and water • Eighth Station: A person of compassion washes the feet of Jesus • Ninth Station: Jesus blesses the people of compassion Session Two (30 minutes) Gather together the participants and read the prayer Without Borders, Without Flags before putting finishing touches to the partially completed banners.

Food

32

Fast

Without Borders, Without Flags Where do you come from, where are you going? I come from all places, I have no name. I know pain and hunger. I seek land, home, food, Life! Where do you come from, where are you going? I come from the underground, Forgotten and dark, fetid and filthy. I seek dignity and peace, the light of day, Citizenship! Where do you come from, where are you going? I come from the drainage ditch and from abandonment, I know nostalgia and I lose hope, I seek gestures of friendship, Solidarity! Where do you come from, where are you going? I come from far and wide: Black, yellow, white, indigenous. I am your “other,” different, I am a person! Where do you come from, where are you going? I come from discrimination, From prejudice. I know walls, laws, fears, loneliness; I want a world without borders Or flags! Where do you come from, where are you going? I come from the resistance, from the struggle, From a situation of senselessness, Valiant and intrepid in the voyage. Of life I make rhyme and satire On the way to the Great Homeland! —Fr. Alfredo José Goncalves, Brazil From Prayer Without Borders, ©2004, Catholic Relief Services

Option 2: Stations on the Journey Collage (90 Minutes) Objective Through this activity participants will: • Create collages that will illustrate the journey and struggle of the migrant workers • Consider the obstacles and hardship faced by those seeking employment and food.

Activity Summary Participants will work collaboratively to create collages that mark the experiences of migrants, refugees, internally-displaced people and those who are trying to rebuild their lives The collages can be created by smaller groups or individuals and then brought together to form one larger collage. They may also be displayed later in the church or school community. This activity can be done in two sessions.

Materials Needed An assortment of old magazines with lots of pictures, any other craft embellishments, scraps of material, yarn, etc., enough scissors for each group to share, enough glue sticks for each group, staplers, poster board of uniform size for each group, masking tape, Feet templates if needed (Food Fast CD-ROM), Stories from the Field (Food Fast CD-ROM)

Food

33

Fast

Procedure Session One (60 Minutes) Participants are divided into smaller groups. Each group will have one or two sheets of poster board and a wide range of magazines from which to select images. Explain to them that they will have a significant amount of time to find images that represent the struggle of migrants, internally-displaced people and those who are trying to rebuild their lives. Once they have gathered all the images they would like to use, they will arrange them creatively on the poster board. All participants should contribute ideas and suggestions as to how the images should be arranged until a consensus is reached. They can also use words or symbols to enhance the poster. Encourage them to take their time, to be thoughtful and creative. Distribute copies of the Stories from the Field to provide additional information and images. Option: Ask participants to read the story of their companion in the Solidarity Partners (Prayer Sessions Option 1: Walking Solidarity) as well and to remember them as they start working on their collage. Session 2 (30 minutes) Invite participants to bring their collages to a central location. Generate a discussion about how they should be combined for best impact. Perhaps all the posters should be arranged together on the wall in the shape of a cross, or arranged in a way that suggests a winding road (perhaps the foot shapes can be decorated and used also on the final piece) Perhaps someone may suggest that the edges of the posters be cut and shaped to form a peace sign, the possibilities are numerous. Encourage sharing of many ideas before making a decision and assembling the larger collage. Once all the pieces have been joined together to make a beautiful statement, invite some sharing about what the experience was like, how can we compare our collaborative efforts here to the world and our responsibility to others?

Option 3: Be an Advocate (60 minutes) Objective Through this activity participants will learn about advocacy and (ways that they can advocate for) how they can become an advocate of a particular issue.

Activity Summary An effective way to make a difference is to educate people on a particular issue for the purpose of encouraging change - advocating. The participants could be encouraged to take a lead in educating their peers and faith community on the issues discussed in the Food Fast—migration and hunger. Through this activity, youth will develop an Advocacy Action Plan that they can implement in order to share what they have learned from their Food Fast experience with their greater community.

Materials Needed Advocacy Action Plan (Food Fast CD-ROM), poster board, markers, magazines, glue sticks, scissors Optional: Paper, pens, envelopes, stamps, addresses for members of Congress (available online at: http://actioncenter.crs.org/)

Procedure Ask participants to think about what they know about advocacy and share with the group. Share some information about advocacy, including how through this Food Fast experience youth are already acting as advocates for the world’s poor. What is advocacy and why is it important? Advocacy is arguing in favor of an idea. You probably advocate for something you believe in many times a day. For example, when you ask your parents for something and give them reasons why you should have it, you are advocating. An essential part of advocacy is raising awareness. Once people are aware of the importance of an issue, they can act in its favor by convincing others that it is something they should care about too. Advocacy efforts often start small and then pick up momentum and grow bigger quickly. How can advocacy be effective? Advocacy is effective when you have a convincing argument. Advocacy is also effective when you can gather many people behind your argument. If you give a very good reason or add a personal touch to your argument, you can be effective. A good 3-step process to advocacy is: 1. Reflect on your Food Fast experience – how it made you feel and what you learned about hunger. 2. Learn about the issues (read about it, talk about it, research it). Food

34

Fast

3. Use tools to learn more about the issues such as the Internet or talking to (informed) adults (watching/listening to the news). 4. Formulate your position about the issue you feel passionate about. Write down solid arguments for your position based on your research. 5. Teach others what you have learned so that they will also support and advocate for your cause. Advocacy is most effective when people are educated about an issue. If you give personal examples and express your true feelings, you will most likely be successful. (Tell them about how you felt and what you learned during your Food Fast.) Who can advocate? Anyone can advocate for a cause, especially youth. They can change the world with their ideas. (They have energy and are open to new ideas, doing things differently.) Why is advocacy important? Advocacy is important because it helps bring about change for the better (changes structures, systems that are unjust). We should strive for our churches, communities and school to be the best they can be. When people advocate for something, they are acting to make the world a better place. If charity is giving help to the poor then advocacy is working to end poverty. If charity means giving a person a fish then advocacy means teaching that person to fish. How is Catholic Relief Services an advocate? Four billion people worldwide are impoverished. This means they live on less than $1 per day and may not have access to basic human needs such as food, water, shelter or a healthy environment. Most poor people do not work for fair wages or cannot attend school. The struggles are many, but with CRS’ work and your help, we can help people live better lives. CRS advocates on behalf of the poor people we serve overseas. That is, we strive to follow in Jesus’ example of loving and helping others, especially those that cannot speak for themselves. We work to stop people’s suffering, help them reach their full potential, and encourage charity (giving to others) and justice worldwide. We believe that we must work with the poor to help them for the long-term, not give them something and leave their community. CRS’ programs are long-term and we work together with people to solve problems. Apart from the programs that CRS implements overseas, we advocate before the United States Congress and Administration to make changes that will help the lives of the poor overseas. As a result of the Food Fast and what they have learned about migration and hunger, ask participants to name the issue related to migration and hunger that they care about deeply. Are there one or two issues that the group would like to advocate for? Have them make an Advocacy Action Plan together on this issue(s). Consider looking on the internet for current international issues that participants can discuss. Check http://actioncenter.crs.org for current legislative issues and print out the summaries on the issues related to migration and hunger. You can also visit the Justice for Immigrants website for current information on the campaign for comprehensive immigration reform at http://www.justiceforimmigrants.org/. Using available materials have youth create a small presentation on the issue to display throughout their parish or school to educate others. Participants can continue to stay informed about the issue(s) they care about by receiving CRS action alerts and information via the CRS Legislative Network: http://actioncenter.crs.org/signup. Option: Have youth write letters to their members of Congress. As our voice in government, members of Congress play an important role in making decisions on our behalf. Youth should be encouraged to write their members of Congress about issues important to them. Here are key points that they can use in their letter if there is no current CRS action alert on these issues during your Food Fast. • An earned legalization program for undocumented immigrants that includes a path to citizenship; • A temporary worker program that includes worker protections for both U.S. and immigrant workers and the option for a path to citizenship; • A more efficient process to reunite immigrant families who have been separated because of huge administrative backlogs; • Restoration of due process protections for immigrants; and • Policies that address the root causes of migration by supporting economic development initiatives in sending countries You can also go to www.foodfast.org/takeaction for additional advocacy tools or an online advocacy action postcard that you can use instead. Bring the group back together and have them decide on one or two things the parish can do in response to this issue. The parish or school can hold a prayer service, create an information poster on the issue that they can post in the parish or school bulletin board, invite people to speak on the issue during the next youth group meeting…the possibilities are endless. Youth can be community leaders and a voice for change!

Food

35

Fast

Connection to the World Activities These activities will provide opportunities for the Food Fast participants to experience their community or world through a different perspective than they are accustomed to. For best results, offer the group the opportunity to debrief after the activity to expand the lesson to larger contexts than this one experience. 1. Make a list of all the physical things we need in order to survive.

Option 1: Life in a Bag (4 sessions - 20 minutes for each)

2. Make a list of all the people who provide services we need in order to survive, i.e., medical doctors, dentists, farmers, ranchers, grocers, etc.

Objective Through this activity participants will:

3. Make a list of things that make our lives easier.

• Identify the difference between basic human needs and human wants;

4. Make a list of things that make our lives fun. Every group answers the following question on the back of their poster. Each group member should answer independently and write their choice on the poster:

• See a visual representation of how little many people in the world survive on in a week and make choices about how to spend their money for those items;

What is one thing from your list that you absolutely must have?

• Pray with other retreat participants for greater justice in the world.

Allow 10-15 minutes for groups to make their posters. Do a short reading of all the posters for the large group, including answers to the question on the back side of the poster. Hang the posters around the room.

Activity Summary This activity is designed to help participants make a visual connection between basic human needs and wants, and to raise their awareness about what is truly essential for daily living. Using simple food and craft items, each participant will create a bag that contains symbols of what poor people around the world must survive on for a whole week. Small group processing and large group prayer bring the issues to a personal as well as global level.

Part 2 1. Group leaders should give everyone in the group 5 tokens saying, “You now have $5, and that must last you for one week. People in countries around the world try to live on this small amount of money every week. Decide how you are going to spend your money. Look at these lists and think about your decisions. What are you going to buy?”

Materials Needed

2. Invite group members to share their thoughts with each other.

½ c. uncooked rice per person, ½ c. dried beans per person, 1-16 oz. bottle of water per person (have participants bring own reusable water bottle), 3 pipe cleaners per person, 5 pieces of play money per person, (tokens or bills, each representing $1.00), 1 gallon-size plastic zipper bag per person, 2 snack-size plastic zipper bags per person, 1-3 small fabric squares per person, 1 index card per person, 1 pen per person, 1 poster board per small group, permanent markers

3. Leader: Each item is going to cost $1 for the week, and for that $1, you will get one of what you buy—1 bag of food, 1 bottle of water, materials to build a house, 1 set of clothes, 1 hour of a service, etc. Where should we start? (Food and water) 4. Form a food distribution line. Give each participant two snack-size zipper bags. As they go through the line, put ½ cup of rice in one bag, and ½ cup beans in the other.

Life in a Bag Prayers (Food Fast CD-ROM). Option: For participants to be able to see a half-cup of rice and beans, and to feel the weight of one bottle of water and know that this is all some people get in a week can be very powerful. However, if it is not possible to obtain these particular items, you may choose to use the graphics provided in the Food Fast CD-ROM to represent these things.

5. Charge $1 or one token for the food, and $1 or one token for a bottle of water. 6. Gather back into small groups and discuss these questions:

a. How does it feel to have such a limited amount of food and water? Will this last for a whole week? How are you planning to make it last?



b. Are you worried about how you will survive? Why or why not?

Procedure This activity has four parts. Make sure to assign leaders to read or lead the reading of the prayers for each part. Part 1

7. Put your food, water and remaining money into the large plastic zipper bag and write names on them.

Divide into small groups of 6 to 8 participants. Give each small group a poster board and some markers. Each group will make one poster using one of these lists. Divide the lists evenly among all groups; some lists may have more than one group working on them. Food

8. Leader reads the prayer aloud to the large group or invite group to read along on the We Believe PowerPoint.

36

Fast

Part 4

9. Put everything in the large zipper bag; collect and set aside. This is a good place to do an energizer or other activity, but you may choose to continue directly to the next part.

1. Pass out large zipper bags. 2. Leader: Take out all that you have. Do you feel rich or poor? Why?

Part 3 1. Pass out large zipper bags with the food, water and money.

3. Small group questions:

2. Do a short summary of the previous activity and what has happened during the other retreat activities. 3. “Now that you have your food and water again, what will you need to think about?” (Housing)

7. Leader reads the prayer aloud to the large group or invite the group to read along: It is Good to be Alive (on Life in a Bag Prayers handout).

7. Small group questions: b. W hat might be more affordable, given the money you have to spend?



c. W hat happens if the landowner throws you out? What will you do?

b. How do you think people around the world are feeling?

6. Use the index card to write what you are going to do with your $1. On the other side of the index card, write a prayer of thanks.

6. “You can put your house almost anywhere, but you don’t own the land that you live on, so you might get kicked out. Think about where you would like to live. Describe your home to the group, including the city, neighborhood and interior of your house.”





5. Leader: Y  ou could save it for next week in case you get sick and can’t work for a day—if you don’t work, you don’t get paid for that day. Or you could get another set of clothes or another bag of food.

5. Gather back into small groups and help participants create a representation of their house.

a. Is your description realistic? Why or why not?

a. How do you think other people at this retreat are feeling?

4. Leader: Look at all of the lists on the walls. What do you want to use your last $1 for?

4. Again, form a materials distribution line. Give each participant three pipe cleaners. Charge $1 or one token for housing materials.





8. Put everything in the large zipper bag and take home with you, remembering how fortunate you are to live in the United States. End activity by bringing the group together and asking them to answer the following questions:

8. “What do we need to think about buying now?” (Clothing)

1. What surprised you most during this activity? Do you think differently now than before the retreat started? Why or why not?

9. Form another distribution line and give each participant three small squares of mismatched cloth. Charge $1 or one token for clothing

3. If you really had to survive on $5 per week, do you think you could do it? Why or why not?

2. What did you decide to do with your remaining $1?

10. “You have received one set of clothes, but because the merchant needed to make more room in his shop, he threw in a pair of old, worn out shoes. But you don’t have a coat or anything extra.”

Option 2: The Hunger Trap (60 Minutes) Objective

11. Small group questions:

Through this activity participants will:

a. How are you going to make it with only one set of clothes? One shirt, one pair of pants, one pair of underwear? What if the shoes are too small for you?

• Examine the relationship between hunger and poverty; • Plan a weeklong menu using poverty wages.



b. How will you keep yourself and your clothes clean?



c. Now, you only have $1 left for the rest of the week. What do you think might happen?



d. Are you worried about how you will survive?

Activity Summary Participants will work in pairs to plan a seven-day menu as if they were a greenhouse worker in Ecuador. This activity should be done when participants are experiencing the full effects of hunger and feel somewhat weak. The activity can either be done with a visit to the local grocery store or by providing a price list of the cost of common food items.

12. Leader reads the prayer aloud to the large group or invite group to read along Giving Thanks (on Life in a Bag Prayers handout).

Materials Needed

13. Put everything in the large zipper bag; collect and set aside.

Copies of the Hunger Trap (Food Fast CD-ROM), Copies of the Menu Planner (Food Fast CD-ROM), pens or pencils, calculators

This is a good place to do an energizer or other activity, but you may choose to continue directly to the next part.

Food

37

Fast

Option: If participants will remain on-site instead of visiting a grocery store, ask them to bring the labels and boxes from the foods that they normally eat every day. Ask participants to begin saving these for approximately two weeks or more before the Food Fast in order to get a wide variety of food and drink types. Create a list of the cost of common food items or get copies of the grocery specials that can be distributed to the participants.

2. What adjustments did you have to make? 3. What overall level of nutrition were you able to afford? What did you see or learn about the cost of foods? 4. How do you think your ability to work would be impacted by not having enough food to eat? 5. How are you feeling now? Do you think you can work for ten hours in a field picking apples after the Food Fast? Why or why not?

Procedure Before the Grocery Store Visit

6. People say that the poor are lazy but perhaps instead being chronically hungry can make one act and move slowly. Do you think this is true?

Discuss the following questions either in the large group or in small groups: 1. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being most hungry, how hungry are you?

7. What is the relationship between hunger and the ability to do productive work?

2. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the best, what is your energy level? What is your motivation level?

8. Are there attitudes that need to be changed about how we view the poor and the hungry? What are ways that we can help people who are caught up in the hunger trap?

3. How much hard work do you think you could do now?

End the activity by inviting the group to pray aloud “We Believe” or by showing the PowerPoint version of the prayer.

4. If you had to move heavy boxes or do yard work or clean a house, how long do you think you could work? 5. What kinds of food give long-lasting energy?

Option 3: To Leave or to Stay (1 Hour)

6. If you were to plan a meal that would be healthy, giving you a good amount of energy, what would you serve?

Objective

Divide into small groups of 6 to 8 participants. Distribute the Hunger Trap handout and discuss.

Through this activity participants will:

In preparation for the visit to the grocery store, break up into pairs. Read the story and tell the pairs that they are going to imagine that this is their personal situation:

• Pay attention to the challenges of migration around the world by reviewing current news on the sufferings of migrants

Your husband has left home, and is trying to make his way north to find better work. He has promised to send money to you as soon as he can, but you have not heard from him in more than eight months. You work in a greenhouse in Cayambe, Ecuador, cutting and packaging exotic flowers to be exported around the world. You work for twelve hours a day, six days a week, and you frequently take your six-year-old daughter with you so that she can help you complete your day’s work. You earn $2 per day for every day that you work. You feel fortunate that this week your daughter was healthy so you were able to work all six days. You have $12 for the next week and must feed yourself, your daughter and your two-year-old son.

• Understand how forced migration can be prevented through the work of international development organizations

Activity Summary This activity will help participants to connect news on the plight of migrants with Catholic social teaching and a successful project supported by Catholic Relief Services that responds to the issue of migration.

Materials Needed

Distribute the Menu Planner handout and ask the participants to plan meals for seven days based on the story.

Cut outs or print outs of news clippings on migrants enough for the small groups, Story from the Field from Mexico, CST principles (Food Fast CD-ROM)

Grocery Store Visit

Procedure

As a large group, go to your local grocery store and price the items on your menu or distribute the list of common food items. Ask the participants to calculate the cost of the food to see if their $12 will be enough. Tell them to make adjustments as needed; keeping in mind the kinds of foods they will need to sustain their energy level so that they can work productively.

Prior to the Food Fast Cut out news clippings on migrants or migration or go to an international news website such as CNN or BBC and type in “migrants” in the search field to get news articles on the plight of migrants. Print out stories of migrants facing abuse, persecution or other challenges in their journey.

After the Grocery Store Visit

Option: You can also use technology by downloading Pod castings of news video clips from NPR, CNN and other reputable news agencies. If you choose this option then you would need to have computers or other equipment to enable the groups to watch or listen to the downloaded news clips.

Ask participants to form their small groups and ask a leader to discuss the following Group Processing Questions: 1. Were you able to afford what you originally planned in your menus? Why or why not? Food

38

Fast

During the Food Fast

opportunities for people to meet their basic needs and live a happy life, we can actually help migrants.

Leader: I am not sure if you have been paying attention to the news on the plight of migrants but at least once a week you actually find a news item on the challenges of migration—refugees from Myanmar suffocating on the freezer of a truck, African migrants dying after their boat sunk on the way to the Canary Islands, villagers in Darfur being killed while running for safety after an attack by the militias. We’ll take time now to look at some of these true stories.



Divide the participants into groups of four to five. Distribute the news clippings to the groups.

You can close the session with the You Make the Road By Walking Reflection Activity to provide participants an opportunity to think about ways they can act to respond to the issue.

I would like to ask you to carefully read the news clipping and say a short prayer for the migrants in those stories.

Option 4: Crossroads of the World: Sudan (45 minutes)

After everyone has prayed ask the groups to come up with a body sculpture to depict the story in their news. They are to select a compelling section of the news clipping and come up with a sculpture using their bodies to depict that particular event in the news. The other groups will try to guess what they are trying to communicate without words but only through their bodies and emotions. Allow time for the groups to practice. Option: If the youth group is not too keen on a body sculpting exercise you can ask them to create a public service announcement on a poster board or newsprint to call attention to the issue related in their assigned news clipping.

Activity Summary Participants will engage in an experience in which they are asked to place themselves in the role of a youth from Sudan who, due to conflict, has had to leave his home.

Purpose This activity is designed to engage young people in learning more about the plight of young people who move from their homes due to insecurity. The activity engages the participants by asking them to take on the life of a person from Sudan. Through decision making and learning of the consequences of those decisions, participants will have a better understanding of the limiting realities that many young people live with each day.

Call the groups together and ask them to present their body sculptures. Ask the other groups to explain what they think the group is trying to depict. The presenting group will explain their sculpture after all groups are finished. After everyone has presented and the groups have explained their sculptures, ask the following questions:

Materials needed:

What challenges about migration did you read in the news clippings or were successfully communicated by the sculptures? What does this say about the plight of migrants today? How are migrants from poor countries being treated in the world today? Could these situations have been prevented? How?

Copy of Sudan Country Resource for setting up the activity, copy of Sudan Country Background, copies of Sudan Reflection Journal for each participant, pens, masking tape, 4 baskets, Sudan Stage G [copied multiple times, cut up, and distributed among 4 baskets], A Better Road to Peace, The Min Tree, CRS’ Juba, Sudan Office (all handouts available on the Food Fast CD-ROM)

Assign someone from the group to read the Story from the Field from Mexico.

Prepare in Advance: In a large, empty room, place letters A-Q on the walls or floor, randomly. The Sudan Country Resource has a letter assigned to a particular action. Using masking tape, tape each action to the wall or floor in the area that matches the number on the action. For instance, if it says “A,” tape it in the area marked A. At G, set up four baskets and distribute “landmines” and “You are safe!” cards in each basket as described in the Sudan Country Resource.

How different is this story from what you had read earlier? What does it say about ways we can help migrants?

Distribute CST Principles Handout

What principles of Catholic social teaching are reflected in this project?



This story highlight for us the importance of economic development opportunities in the source countries, of the reality that if the poor have a choice they would remain home. We are all challenged to find ways where people can live and flourish as individuals, to work for the common good and to affirm our shared humanity, our solidarity with one another. More importantly if we provide

Food

The challenge for us then is to find ways where we can help migrants or even to challenge ways that people view migrants. As Christians we are challenged by Pope Benedict XVI in his angelus on June 19, 2005, “... those who must leave everything, at times even their families, to escape from grave difficulties and dangers... [should find] the Church as a homeland where no one is a stranger.”

Make copies of A Better Road to Peace, The Min Tree, or CRS’ Juba, Sudan Office for participants to read and discuss during the activity debriefing. Option: Around the room, place sections of A Better Road to Peace, The Min Tree, and CRS’ Juba, Sudan Office so participants can read about the hope in Southern Sudan following the signing of the peace accords.

39

Fast

Procedure

This activity was created from the real-life stories and situations that were described to and witnessed by the writers of this activity, and by Catholic Relief Services staff who work in these countries. Specific names of organizations are real, although the young people are not real. If young people have questions about the activity, invite them to do some of their own research about the issues and situations that are described in this activity.

Share information on Sudan using Sudan Country Background before starting activity. Also, visit http://crs.org/Sudan for the latest information on the situation in Darfur and Southern Sudan. The following directions are best given person-to-person, but they can be printed on a sign that is hung and then read by participants.

Option 5: Speakers on Migration (30-45 minutes)

Leader: The activity that you are about to engage in is going to help you come to a better understanding of some of the problems and situations that young people face who live in Sudan.

Objectives:

You will take on the role of a young person that lives in Sudan. You will be asked to make a decision to begin the activity – and your decision will begin the path that you will follow through the activity. Each of you will make at least 4 decisions and those decisions will affect the type of life that you will have, as that young person.



You will notice that there are different areas around the room. If you are told to go to H, you will go to this area of the room (show area H).



When you are finished, come back to our prayer area, pick up a Sudan Reflection Journal and pen and reflect on your experience quietly until the entire group is finished. This activity is to be done privately, and quietly. Please respect the needs of other people to enter into this activity by your silence and by truly entering into this activity.



Through this activity participants will: • Hear a first-hand account of migration from a refugee or recent immigrant to the U.S. • Learn about ways that the Church is welcoming migrants and advocating for their rights in your diocese

Activity Summary This activity will involve inviting at least two speakers who can give a personal account of the challenges of migration and also to inform the participants of ways the diocese if working on the issue of migration.

Procedure Arrange to have a speaker during a time in the retreat when participants will be attentive. You can have a panel of speakers to give a personal testimony on the life of a migrant as well as to talk about ways that your diocese is working to welcome migrants and advocate for their rights.

Are there any questions?

If there is someone in the parish or in your youth group who was a refugee or a recent immigrant to the U.S. you can invite them to give a personal account of their experience with migration. Ask them to speak about their experiences before coming to the U.S., to highlight any challenges they faced with migration as well as their first few months of adjusting to life in the U.S. They can also advice participants on how they can help to make refugees and immigrants feel welcome in their community. Presenting with pictures, videos, personal stories, music, objects from their country would be very helpful.

Each of the participants in this activity most likely took a unique path through the activity. For this reason, you may need to help the participants realize that they did not all have a common experience, even though they were working within the same country. When participants are finished, use the Sudan Discussion Questions to debrief the activity. Debrief 1. How did you end the activity? (Each participant’s experience may be unique) 2. Were you surprised by the situations you found yourself in? Why?

You can also contact your diocesan Catholic Charities or Refugee Resettlement Office (for a list of contacts go to http://www.usccb.org/mrs/resettlementoffices.shtml) to find out if they can send someone to talk about the social services and pastoral care provided to help refugees or recent immigrants in the diocese.

3. What was the hardest thing for you to “get used to” as you were playing the role of Margong? 4. What affect did war have on Margong’s life? 5. How much freedom did Margong really have? How does it compare to your own freedom?

You can also call your Diocesan Social Action office (for a list of contacts go to http://www.nplc.org/roundtable/members.asp) to find out if someone can talk about current advocacy initiatives on immigration in the diocese.

6. Was there anything that made you mad? 7. At the end of the activity, did you feel hopeful or hopeless?

Allow participants an opportunity to ask questions. (Note: The 45 minutes time frame would be appropriate for a session that has interactive components in which participants would not just be listening.)

After the discussion you can share the good news on the current rebuilding efforts in Southern Sudan after the peace accords by reading A Better Road to Peace, The Min Tree or the significance of Catholic Relief Services’ Juba Office.

Food

40

Fast

Story from the Field:

Benin

Argle* [name changed] was sent at 12 to her aunt’s care after her mother passed. Argle’s days started at 5 a.m. Sometimes, with just four hours of sleep, she had to bathe, feed and dress her cousins before she went to school. Her days and nights were filled with cleaning, cooking and yard work. And she was often scolded for trivial matters. When asked why she did this, she just said, “I don’t know. I have to do it and I’m doing it.” Working in Benin since 1958, CRS has joined the effort to combat child trafficking through programs that locate and provide support to children at risk, reunite victimized children with their families, and provide family support. The agency also helps implement the Education First program, which reenrolls trafficked and at-risk children in school. The initiative established an alternative school in northern Benin so that children who work at home during the day may attend school in the afternoon. Now in its fourth year, the program’s goal is to promote education as a greater economic solution and investment than trafficking. A child in school is less likely to be trafficked, and educated parents are less likely to traffic their children. The rise in child trafficking is a phenomenon that spurred from the earnest African family tradition of sending children to live in the homes of extended-family members that could better provide for them. But over the last decade, the cultural practice has degenerated into a more brutal form. In some instances, children are treated as mere commodities. Benin supplies a steady workforce to employers in other African countries and parts of Europe as well as internally. Inside Benin, trafficking takes place from rural areas to big towns where children work as domestic laborers, street vendors, porters, construction workers and in other trades. Of these children, 43 percent are girls. Children as young as 9 are encouraged to leave their homes, suddenly finding themselves in new environments where a loving family atmosphere is replaced with oppressive work and treatment. These children become vulnerable to exploitation and even sexual abuse. The returns from their labor may come in the form of a meager monthly payment the child sends home to his or her family, sometimes through the trafficker, who takes a cut. In other cases, children are sent to work temporarily and return home with money to pay for such needs as food and school fees for their siblings. Argle’s situation may have been even more traumatic because she was forced into servitude while grieving the death of her mother. Now in her 30s, Argle is working as a pastry baker at a training center. “It took me a long time to recover from what I went through.” *To protect her privacy Argle’s face is not shown.

Sean Sprague for CRS

Story from the Field:

Colombia

Robyn Fieser/CRS

Scared and four months pregnant, Carolina left her home in southern Colombia last April after guerillas killed her boyfriend. The 29-year-old fled her village in Putumayo in the black of night with her 6-year-old son. Putumayo is both the epicenter of coca growing in Colombia and the stronghold of the country’s largest rebel army. Carolina’s only stop before heading for safety in neighboring Ecuador was to collect her teenage son, who was staying with her mother in a nearby town. But he wouldn’t leave. Four months later, Carolina returned to try to convince her son, only to find guerillas dominating the town and threatening to recruit him. “The guerillas told me I needed their permission to take him,” says Carolina. “In our villages, they are the law and the justice.” A few days later, those guerillas were replaced by a new group that had not yet laid claim to the boy. And so, for the second time in six months, Carolina made a run for her life — this time with her family intact. These days, Carolina is safe at a shelter for refugees in the Ecuadorian border town of Nueva Loja. Preparations for Carolina and her family to seek asylum in Switzerland have been made and the Swiss government will pay for Carolina’s education and provide day care until she learns the language and gets on her feet. In this sense, Carolina is one of the lucky ones. Only a small percentage of Colombians fleeing the violence in their country are recognized as refugees and granted legal status and protection.

Mounting violence in Colombia has forced more people to seek refuge in Ecuador in recent years. Since 2000, an estimated 40,000 Colombians have sought asylum. They live in a state of legal uncertainty, forced to work in informal arrangements that often leave them open to exploitation. Perceived as outsiders, many experience discrimination and harassment. Most have little access to education and health care. To address the needs of this vulnerable population, Catholic Relief Services is partnering with the Ecuadorian Bishops’ Conference Committee for Refugees to develop strategies for the care and protection of refugees in seven dioceses, including the Archdiocese of Quito, where the bulk of the refugees reside. CRS and its partners are working to increase access to education for children whose families have had to flee Colombia. The project promotes cultural integration with programs that bring Ecuadorian and Colombian students together to share their customs, food and traditions. Ultimately, CRS’ and its partners’ job is to help unite and organize the civil organizations, international agencies and government groups working with Colombian refugees to advocate for educational opportunities for children of Colombian refugees

Story from the Field:

Bethlehem, West Bank

Learning to Grow On a side street in the suburbs of Bethlehem, Fatmah Issa welcomes guests to her home with grapes from her nearby garden. It is a small gesture of hospitality, but for Fatmah, such staples are an important part of her diet. They are also the reason she signed up to participate in a CRS-supported training aimed at boosting the productivity of her small parcel of farmland. “I have apples and grapes — grapes are famous here,” Fatmah says. “But we grow only for our family. The land is too small.” Having lost her husband in 2005 after a long illness, Fatmah has been supporting her five children largely through the help of generous neighbors and friends, who provide what food they can to support the struggling family. Working to earn money by buying clothes at low prices and selling them for tiny profits, Fatmah was eager to sign up for a CRS-supported food assistance program in her village of Al-Khidr. The program is aimed at improving the living conditions of families like Fatmah’s in the West Bank. Through the program, women take part in training programs covering a variety of locally relevant subjects, like skills training for small business enterprises, and farming techniques aimed at

boosting crop yields for small farmers. For Fatmah, the training was a chance to learn how to plant trees and how to prune her apple trees to make them more productive. “Before the training, I had a little knowledge about gardening,” Fatmah says. “But now I learned more.” After completing 60 hours of training, participants receive a three-month ration of food from CRS and the World Food Programme, including wheat flour, pasta, salt, peas, cooking oil and other essentials. For many of those in the program, this food makes up the bulk of their family’s food supply. Since the program’s inception in 1998, more than 49,000 beneficiaries in the West Bank have received food in exchange for participation in training and working activities. For Fatmah, this training was just the first of many she hopes to complete. Fatmah wants to enhance her own skills and provide food for her family in the process, as economic opportunities for many rural West Bank residents continue to wither. “Most of the women who did the training, their husbands were unemployed, so that affected their lives,” Fatmah says. “This food is small, but it is important.”

David Snyder/CRS

Story from the Field:

Lebanon

You’d think that a woman with a loving husband, newborn baby and a master’s degree in physics would be set for life — or at least not hiding out in a dank basement room and unable to afford food. A few years ago, Rana [name changed] had a successful career in Iraq. Today, she fears for her life. One of an estimated 50,000 Iraqi refugees in Lebanon, Rana does not leave the tiny apartment in Beirut where she, her husband and her 10-weekold daughter wait out the time until another country accepts them as immigrants. A soft-spoken 30-year-old new mother, Rana explains that her father was murdered for his political beliefs. As his daughter, she herself was later threatened directly. She fled to Beirut to join her husband, who was in Lebanon already. Lebanon proved not to be the asylum she hoped for. Having moved into one apartment, Rana heard rumors that her father’s enemies knew her whereabouts. She and her small family moved to another apartment, which Rana does not leave. “I am afraid all the time,” she says. Stories like Rana’s are painfully familiar to the staff of the Caritas Lebanon Migrant Center, one of the few charities in Beirut reaching out to those fleeing Iraq’s violence and chaos. With funds from Catholic Relief Services and other donors, the migrant center helps the refugees with food coupons, rent payments, and medical care. The vast majority of Iraqi immigrants in Lebanon can’t find work and aren’t allowed to access public schools and health services. Many put their names on a long U.N. waiting list, hoping against hope that other countries will take them in.   For now, they sit in near-empty apartments and watch the months drag by. Lebanon is far from a famine environment; it has grocery stores and restaurants on every street. But as the refugees’ money runs out, they are less and less able to buy food. For the most vulnerable Iraqis, CRS helps bridge the food gap as they struggle to rebuild their lives.

Linda Panetta for CRS

Story from the Field:

Mexico

Isidro is one of dozens of farmers participating in a CRS project, Un Mercado Justo (For a Just Market), linking Mexican farmers with the orchards of Washington and the advanced technology used to harvest them. The project has already improved the quality of life for dozens of Mexican farming families, decreasing their need to migrate to the United States. It has also helped the farmers improve the size and quality of their harvests. “Maybe we can make enough money so that the kids will come home to me now,” says Gilberto, the 76-year-old father of Isidro Molinar. Gilberto is referring to Isidro’s three brothers and sister, who, like many others in the region, migrated to the United States several years ago. At least 70 percent of family growers in Chihuahua have sent at least one member of their family to the United States to find work. CRS Mexico and a Chihuahan farmers’ cooperative, Frente Democratico Campesino, started Un Mercado Justo last year. Their goal was to help Mexican growers improve the techniques of their apple production so they can earn a livable wage in Mexico. With no credit, cooling systems or means of transport, small apple growers in Mexico have no access to the quality apple market, which is flooded by apples from the United States and China. Desperate for income at the end of the growing season, the Mexican farmers have traditionally had no choice but to accept rock-bottom prices from middlemen for apples still on the tree. Un Mercado Justo gave a group of 20 farmer families the average price of just over 18 cents a pound for their apples. The families then pooled their apples and stored them in a temperaturecontrolled space until the price cycle peaked last December. Their strategy worked. The net price for their apples more than doubled, with the farmers receiving as much as 51 cents per pound. Last winter, Isidro was one of three cooperative’s growers to travel to orchards in Washington to learn pruning and thinning techniques, and to get a tour of packing and cooling facilities from experts. The Mexican growers took those skills back to share, and now 104 farm families have committed to upgrading their apples in the next two years. Isidro is already putting the lessons he learned to good use to improve the size and quality of his Gala variety. He is now ready to move up in the market and earn enough money to help his siblings return home. Now Isidro and more than 120 other families can produce higher quality, larger, more profitable apples for a higher niche in the Mexican market. The group hopes to sell 624 tons of apples at prices about oneand-a-half times the minimum wage — a wage that won’t require them to migrate.

Story from the Field:

Uganda

For Francis Oola and his wife Beatrice, residents of an internally displaced persons camp in Lukodi, Uganda, every day is a reminder of what they have lost. Displaced twice by the war between rebels and government forces in Uganda’s long-running conflict, Francis knows well the hardships that conflict can cause. Francis explains that the conflict first forced his family to leave their home in a nearby village back in 2002. They ended up settling into Lukodi camp, but two years later, it and two other camps were attacked for no apparent reason. “First we went to town, but we couldn’t afford it, so we came back here,” Francis says. Now Francis, Beatrice and their five children have lived in Lukodi camp for more than five years. Like many in northern Uganda, they have struggled to grow crops. Francis, who cares for four younger siblings in addition to his own children, often simply wasn’t able to produce enough food to feed his family. Then Francis heard about a project sponsored by Catholic Relief Services. The project provides farmers, affected by the war, access to seeds. The seeds are enabling displaced families to return to their fields, plant and harvest crops, and ultimately become more self-sufficient. The farmers attend a seed fair, paying seed sellers — many of whom are also local farmers — for seeds the buyers think are best to grow. Through this method, farmers control the crops they grow, and profits from seed sales stay in the community, helping to improve an economy weakened by conflict.

Taking advantage of the improved stability in the region, many people are moving from larger, older camps to newer transitional camps closer to their original homes. From there, they can reach their land to farm safely during the day. The seed fair project gives these farmers the seed they need to plant and harvest an initial crop, from which they can save some seeds to plant the next season. With only enough seed to plant half an acre, Francis carefully planted his first batch of seeds in April. When he went to harvest his plants in July, the new varieties of seeds surprised even him with the yield they produced. “The harvest was good,” Francis says. “We got five and a half bags [of groundnuts]. With a surplus of seeds, Francis plans to save some of his harvest to use as seed during the next planting season. He also plans to sell any extra seeds his family doesn’t eat. The income is critical at a time when few people have money with which to rebuild their lives. For Francis and his wife, still living in the camp and afraid — like many others here — to return full-time to their village, there is one factor alone that will determine when they go home for good. “As long as peace comes, we’ll go back,” Francis says. This story is adapted from an article written by David Snyder, a photojournalist who has traveled to more than 30 countries with CRS.

David Snyder/CRS

Multi-Media Resources Online Resources

Music Resources

www.crs.org Catholic Relief Services: Information on CRS’ work, stories about the people CRS serves, and opportunities to get involved in CRS activities in the United States.

The music suggested for Food Fast is a guide to what is possible! Kids love music---it’s their LIFE’s soundtrack. Food Fast gives you the opportunity to challenge them with new music from Catholic composers and from around the world as well as the chance to integrate the music that they listen to every day into their fasting experience.

www.foodfast.org Visit our website for additional resources, activities, and tips on planning your Food Fast.

For the music that is suggested, ask your youth if they have these songs and invite them to bring the CD you need to the event. Another option is to download the song from a variety of legal online music services. Most of the music suggested in these materials is also available from the iTunes music store at www. apple.com for $.99 each.

www.povertyusa.org Catholic Campaign for Human Development: Provides information on poverty in the United States. www.nfcym.org National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry: Offers resources, training opportunities, conferences and updates for those who work in the Catholic Youth Ministry community.

Don’t be afraid of popular music!! There are many selections that you can reframe for young people in the context of your Food Fast weekend. Young people like different styles of music; therefore, the music suggested for Food Fast uses a variety of styles, including pop, folk, world music and liturgical music.

www.osjspm.org Office for Social Justice of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis: Provides links to Catholic Social Teaching documents. www.disciplesnow.com Disciples Now: A web resource designed for Catholic Youth, offers information on Catholic teachings and traditions, prayers, and opportunities for Catholic youth to interact online. They also host the Food Fast Bulletin Board!

Video Resources*

www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/justfaith/walk JusticeWalking (J-Walking) is Just Faith Ministries program for older teenagers (16-18 years old).It is a 9-month experiential process that brings adults and Catholic teenagers into small communities to experiment with living the Gospel message and the practical implications of Catholic social teaching.

To Earn or Learn (2001) Profiles child laborers in India and exposes various viewpoints on this predicament in Indian society.

All videos are available in English and Spanish. Speaking Our Peace (2000) Focuses on Catholic Relief Services’ work with youth in Rwanda, to promote education and peacebuilding.

Positively Speaking (2002) Integrates stories of people living with HIV/AIDS in Uganda and Zimbabwe with reflections from youth in the United States.

www.coc.org/ej/ The website of the Education for Justice Project at the Center of Concern offers a wide range of resources to help promote Catholic Social Teaching and social justice issues through interactive group activities and discussions.

Journey Against Hunger (2006) This DVD will take viewers on a journey with three communities in Niger who are involved in long term action to ensure food security in their community. * The first three videos are available in DVD format the Food Fast DVD Collection and can be ordered online at www.foodfast.org.

Resources on Migration http://www.usccb.org/mrs Migration and Refugee Services carries out the commitment of the Roman Catholic bishops of the United States to serve and advocate for immigrants, refugees, migrants, and people on the move. www.usccb.org/mrs/pastoralstatements.shtml USCCB offers links to pastoral statements and letters on migration . www.usccb.org/mrs/hehir.shtml Fr. Brian Hehir connects Catholic social teaching to migration. www.justiceforimmigrants.org The Justice for Immigrants website provides information and facts related to immigration as well as prayer and reflection resources. www.usccb.org/mrs/BorderReport.pdf This report from the USCCB focuses on unaccompanied minors and human trafficking along the US/Mexico border. Food

47

Fast

Parental Consent Form Dear Parent/Guardian, Your child has expressed interest in participating in Food Fast, Catholic Relief Services’ hunger awareness program. This is a 24 hour event, which includes fasting, prayer, activities, and discussion to teach youth about issues in the developing world. Food Fast will be held on ________________ at _________________. date/time location During Food Fast, your child will: • fast for 24 hours and miss three main meals • consume only juice and water during the fast • solicit sponsorship pledges to raise money for Catholic Relief Services In the Bible, the practice of fasting is connected with the ideas of personal and communal growth and conversion. By fasting, praying, and sharing conversation together we gain a connection with the people in the world who suffer from hunger involuntarily. If there are medical reasons that prevent your child from being physically capable to participate in a 24 hour fast, your child can still participate in the event in a modified way. Please contact me if you would like to discuss other options. The purpose of the fast is to create an awareness of the impact of poverty and inequity in a world of plenty and to give your child ideas about how to make positive changes in the world. Please complete the form below and return it to me by ________________. Thank you for supporting your child’s participation in Catholic Relief Services’ Food Fast. date Sincerely,

___________________________ Youth Director/Campus Minister Catholic Relief Services is the official overseas relief and development agency of the Catholic community in the United States. Food Fast is a 24-hour educational event focusing on issues in the developing world. Students participate in a series of planned activities, and with the supervision of their youth director or teacher, fast for 24 hours. Anyone fasting must drink water and replace solid food with juices (fruit or vegetable) or other non-caffeinated drinks (such as herbal teas). Anyone with a cold or flu, liver or kidney problems, or a serious illness such as diabetes, heart disease, or ulcers, should not take part in the fast. If you are in doubt of your child’s ability to participate, please consult your doctor. For most people, fasting is safe and can be beneficial; however, there are some people who should NEVER fast without professional supervision. (For example, persons who are too thin or emaciated; persons who have experienced anorexia, bulimia, or other eating or behavioral disorders; persons who suffer weakness or anemia; persons who take insulin for diabetes, or suffer from hypoglycemia or any other blood sugar problem.) Fasting should only be done in a limited and controlled environment.

My child, ______________________________ has my permission to participate in the Food Fast event. name of participant _________ I give permission for photos to be taken of my child during this event, and for those photos to be published in parish newsletters, parish web site and on the Catholic Relief Services/Food Fast web site. ___________________________________________ Signature of parent/guardian (Some Food Fast leaders have found it helpful to let parents know that their children are participating in the fast by using a Parental Consent Form. This form is also available in Word format at www.foodfast.org and you are welcome to modify it for your use).

Food Fast Sponsorship Form Group Leader: Please make a copy of this 2-sided form for each participant. For record purposes and in case sponsors want more information, assign an authorization code for each participant and include your contact information in the sponsorship form. Participant: This sheet serves as a record of all pledges and payments. List all sponsors on the reverse side of this sheet. By participating in Food Fast, you are joining in solidarity with the poor around the world. You will fast and learn more about what can be done to make a difference in the lives of our brothers and sisters around the world. Use the information below to let your sponsors know why you are soliciting pledges. List all sponsors, pledges, and payments on the reverse side of this sheet. How d o the pl edge s be ne f it the spon s ors? Let your sponsors know that through their donations, they will be making a positive and direct impact in someone’s life. Contributions will support Catholic Relief Services’ relief and development projects overseas. Your support will help to provide quality education, healthcare, food, and other opportunities for our brothers and sisters around the world. Who i s C atholi c Reli e f S e r v i ce s? Established in 1943, Catholic Relief Services is the official overseas relief and development agency of the United States Catholic Community. The fundamental motivating force of Catholic Relief Services is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That motivation compels the agency to alleviate human suffering, to foster justice and charity, and to enhance the development of peoples around the world. Catholic Relief Services provides assistance on the basis of need, not creed, race, or ethnicity. Catholic Relief Services is one of the most efficient humanitarian agencies in the world, with over 94% of all resources going directly to programs. S e t a goal for the amount of mone y y ou w ill rai s e! Write down your goal in the sponsorship form and explain to your sponsors why it is important to you. Ask y our spon s ors for the ir par tne rship! Remind your sponsors that we are all one human family, regardless of our national, ethnic, economic, religious, or ideological differences. In partnership, we can reach out to our brothers and sisters who need our help. Q u e sti on s? For more information about Catholic Relief Services, please visit our website at www.crs.org, or call 1-800-235-2772.

If you opt to use to use Hour Sponsors option: How does the hour sponsor work? Fill in the hour column on the far left side of the Sponsorship Form. Ask your sponsors to donate a set amount of money for a particular hour in which you would fast during the retreat. Explain to your sponsor that a bell will be rung for each hour you spend at the retreat and you will you will pray for that sponsor’s intentions during that hour. Ask your sponsor to do the same for you.

Always remember to thank your sponsors for their gifts!

Food Fast Sponsorship Form All Checks should be in U.S. dollars and made payable to: Catholic Relief Services Name: ___________________________

Authorization Code: ________

Parish/School:____________________

Parish/School Contact Person:__________________

Hour

Sponsor

Mailing Address, Email Address or Phone Number

Gift Amount

$ ________ $ ________ $ ________ $ ________ $ ________ $ ________ $ ________ $ ________ $ ________ $ ________ $ ________ $ ________ $ ________ $ ________ $ ________ $ ________ $ ________ $ ________ $ ________ $ ________ $ ________ $ ________ $ ________ $ ________

Total $ ________

Food Fast Evaluation Thank you for participating in Food Fast! We would like your feedback to help us assess the effectiveness of the Food Fast program. Please take a moment to answer the following questions, fold the completed evaluation, and send it to Catholic Relief Services. To participate in an on-line evaluation of Food Fast, visit www.foodfast.org/evaluation.cfm Number of Food fast participants in your group _______________ Date of your Food Fast event ___________________________ Total amount raised $_____________________________ 1. How effective was the Coordinator’s Manual in providing concrete ways to engage your students in the global work of the Church? (circle one)

Very effective

Moderately effective

Not effective

2. How appropriate was the theme of this year’s Food Fast resources for your group?

Very appropriate

Moderately appropriate

Not appropriate

3. Which Food Fast activities were the most effective with your group? (please circle all that apply)

Prayer Sessions

Energizers

Reflection activities

Learning Opportunities



Group Projects

Icebreakers

Fasting Atmosphere

Connection to the World activities

4. Do participants understand the relationship between global hunger and migration and how they can serve as advocates?

5. If you used the Food Fast CD ROM which resources did you find useful?

6. What activities or resources would you like to have for future Food Fasts?

7. Share your best practices with us! What specific and creative ideas made your Food Fast event a success? Please feel free to include photos of your event and reflections written by Fast participants. (Note: Photos and reflections cannot be returned.)

8. Additional comments or suggestions:



Name Church/School Address



Phone E-mail

Thank you for participating in Food Fast, and for taking the time to complete this evaluation!

Catholic Relief Services Food Fast 228 West Lexington Street Baltimore, MD 21201

228 West Lexington Street Baltimore, MD 21201 (410) 625-2220 www.crs.org

Check out this manual for resources you’ll need to plan and organize your

24-hour Food Fast retreat! Inside you’ll find: 24 Hour Retreat Schedule • How to Coordinate a Successful Food Fast Icebreakers • Prayer Sessions • Learning Opportunities • Reflections Energizers • Group Projects • Connection to the World Activities Additional resources, including handouts and forms, can be found on the Food Fast CD-ROM or online at www.foodfast.org.

This manual is printed on recycled paper processed using renewable energy.

©2008 Catholic Relief Services. All Rights Reserved. US0847