Campus organization combats hunger in third world countries

from the Technician Online

by Cheyenne Autry

Nourish International is an organization that aims to reduce poverty through student action, both on and off campus. The organization incorporates students into developing countries to help create economic change and reduce destitution. The organization also works with nongovernmental organizations and held a hunger lunch on Tuesday to raise funds for upcoming projects, which usually cost about $5,000.

"We see a huge need in the world to help and this is our way of doing what we can with what we have," said co-chair Anushri Desai, a junior in biochemistry. "Sometimes we try to turn a blind eye to hunger because it can be a little hard to take in."

Nourish International sponsored two trips last year, one to Uganda and one to Guatemala.

Kelly Dew, a junior in zoology, traveled to Uganda with the Full Belly project and Nourish International to help build factories that produced peanut shelling machines. Women in Uganda use peanuts as their primary source of protein and shell them by hand, but the process is slow and damages their hands over periods of time.

Jock Brandis of Wilmington built the shelling machine and founded Full Belly. The program donated $20,000 to Nourish International to help fund the project. Dew spent five weeks in Uganda building the factory and promoting the shelling machine. "We traveled to a nearby farmer's guild to show how the machine worked to the locals and teach them how to use it," said Dew. "They said the would buy about 2,000 machines so it was a complete success."

Nourish International's trip to Guatemala to help promote long term agricultural and intellectual development. Pavak Shah, a senior in biomedical engineering, participated in the trip. Shah said the group's main goal was to educate the communities on how to grow simple vegetables and create dietary diversity. "There's not much variety in their diet," said Shah, "it's mostly composed of simple beans and corn." Shah's group helped build an education center and worked with local teachers about creating curricula for children. He said those who attended also worked on the design and construction of a green house in addition to the education center.

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