The document summarizes a student's senior project where they organized a fundraising banquet to sponsor a child in Sierra Leone for a year. Some key highlights include: 1) The student gave a presentation on the cultural effects of poverty and food shortages in Africa to attendees before a gourmet dinner. 2) They had difficulties finding an affordable venue and African children's choir entertainment but eventually succeeded. 3) The banquet was a success, raising over $400 to support the child and choir. The student hopes to continue the event annually.

1. Good evening, my name is Amanda Fromhagen, and this is Nihara. She is six years old,
and is a survivor of the highest mortality rate of children under five in the world. In the 1970s,
453 out of every 1000 children in Sierra Leone died by the age of five due to nutrient related
diseases and starvation. Although these numbers have reduced dramatically over the last few
decades, the cultural effects of malnutrition still resonate in most of the continent. For my senior
project I will be sponsoring Nihara for one year with adequate food, water, and medical care wit
funds I raised during a banquet event.
My research paper was crucial during my banquet. I made a presentation before the
dinner started about the cultural effects of poverty and food shortages in Africa. In this way, all
the information I gathered to discuss these problems from my paper I was able to share with my
audience. I could share with you in detail just how much of the world is effected by hunger, but
in the essence of time I will share just a few highlights. The most sobering part of my research
was the abundance of statistics for poverty and hunger, and yet the jaded outlook by the
countries with power. 925 million people suffer from chronic hunger, which is the number one
cause of death on a global scale. 98% of those people live in the developing world, which is
home to world’s most extreme poverty. 9 out of the 10 poorest countries in the world are in
Africa. These countries also have the highest government corruption, natural disasters such as
severe drought and famine, the smallest percentages of arable land, and the lowest literacy rates.
I do not believe it is our jobs to go into these countries and “educate” the people on civilized life.
I think the key is thriving in your own cultural.
Finishing my research and my banquet presentation was probably the easiest part of this
entire process. My goal for the dinner was to have a nice space, live entertainment, and gourmet
food. I first tried to find a venue that could accommodate 25-30 people, had a kitchen, and
hopefully room for a stage of some kind. The space also needed to be free or under 100 dollars,
which seemed to be the biggest problem. I had a very tight budget so I really couldn’t go over
that amount, and most places that would have suited were way beyond that price. My original
plan had been to use my church fellowship hall, but they quickly informed me that it was
unavailable in the time I wanted due to weddings. By the time I finally found a place, I had
called over 30 different venues. As it ended up, and old family friend of our agreed to let us clear
out his restaurant for one night free of charge. There was plenty of room for the guests and a
kitchen, but when we set everything up the night of the banquet; it was a pretty tight fit with the
stage we built. I was nervous about setting a date before I had anything else because I was afraid
that I would book an entertainment group and then not have a place for them to perform, or vise-
versa. Finding the venue took me about a month and a half, and then finding the entertainment
took another couple of weeks. I really wanted something that was on theme with my topic, so I
was mostly searching for an African children’s choir that would accept a small donation. I
actually considered giving up on this part of my commitment. It was incredibly hard to find any
sort of appropriate entertainment, and my specific desire seemed almost impossible. I even
started asking classmates if they would like to play and instrument or sing. Everyone I contacted

2. either declined or wanted too much money. I ended up venting my frustration to a friend at work,
and she mentioned this small group that had performed at her church last year called the Watoto
Children’s Choir. I ended up talking to this very sweet old man from Uganda for about an hour.
He talked about his childhood and my project, and whether or not their program was a good fit
for what I needed. He was extremely helpful, and gave me a first-hand perspective on just what
it’s like as a child in Africa. He said they had a smaller touring group that could sing for the date
I needed. After I got these two details solved, I breathed a huge sigh of relief. The next step was
far less complicated; I needed to provide a gourmet meal without breaking my budget. I knew of
several students who were trying to pursue a catering-related senior project. I found a classmate
who agreed to cater free of charge if I purchased the necessary products. We sat down and I told
her some of my ideas and my project, and she quickly came up with a menu. I went ahead and
sent out Facebook invitations, using a wedding style RSVP for the menu choice. We didn’t want
to have too many options, due to cost and time efficiency, and we needed to have an accurate
count for ordering the food. We offered a South African spiced steak with chopped sweet
potatoes, Moroccan chicken ka-bobs, and a vegetable plate with squash and eggplant. With
everything going on the night of the banquet, I didn’t get to try everything; but the small bite of
steak I had was delicious. With that said, the banquet went by very fast and smoothly. The only
major problem we had during the actual event was the photography. My friend who was
supposed to be taking pictures the whole night had a very violent allergic reaction to the food
during set up. In all the chaos, we were left one waitress short and without a camera. Most of the
pictures I have are collected from phones and the one camera we had before it died. Besides that
set-back, the night was flawless. No one showed up that wasn’t expected; all of my friends who
volunteered to be waiters did excellent, and the choir was phenomenal. By the end of the night, I
was able to exceed my goal of 400 dollars, and used the rest of the money to cover the cost of
food and donate to the choir.
I have given a lot of thought as to why I chose this project. Helping children in Africa has
never been something I have felt a burden for, and yet it was the first thing that came to mind
when the senior project was mentioned. I never gave it a second thought; I just began to plan
everything out. As I went through the research and began to encounter people who have truly
experience the extreme poverty and hunger in the way that I described, my desire to make an
impact on the individual level deepened. I don’t want world peace or to save mankind, but
through this project I have discovered my desire to reach out to a single child and make a
difference in her life. I plan to make this an annual event, hopefully adding more children to
sponsor and encouraging others to donate.
As to my project facilitator, she didn’t even come to my banquet. Dana Ponder is a
former boss of mine, who works with organizations like the MDA and Can Hunger in their
donation strategy. She basically helps decide where the money goes. She didn’t really help me
that much during my project; I had mostly everything planned out. We met twice to go over my

3. ideas and plans, and she gave me a few tips. I don’t think she was very interested in what I was
doing.
My largest obstacle, besides the picture-taking fiasco, was time management. I generally
work 6 or 7 days a week, and usually all day long. Most of my project was spent on the phone
orchestrating this event and finding venues and performance groups- usually while I was driving
to/from work or on break. My project actually fit very nicely with this time constraints, because
there was very little that I needed to be physically present for, besides the shopping. I could send
out emails and Facebook messages to friends asking them to volunteer and I talked over the
phone to the restaurant owner and Watoto director. I really only had to take off one day for the
dinner.
I enjoyed my project specifically; however I think the senior project as a whole created
little inconveniences. For example, I probably would have been fine without a project facilitator,
or a product work log. I understand the need for these in the accountability of the student, but
needless to say I think I will enjoy my next fundraiser more without these added stressors.
With my conclusion, I only want to encourage you to do one thing: next time you see an
overly-emotional commercial about the starving youth of Africa, don’t been drawn in by
dramatization. Reflect on the true reality of their cause. Hunger and starvation are real forces to
be reckoned with, even though they may never lie directly at our doorstep. I thank you for your
time tonight, and will be happy to answer any questions you may have.