Four Eden Marine High Year 11 students are eating like refugees this week.
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They’ll be eating the same rations as a Syrian refugee in a Jordan camp – a meagre amount of rice, beans, lentils, fish, oil and flour.
It’s part of the Act for Peace Ration Challenge. The aim is to raise awareness about issues affecting refugees.
It was Tom Burn’s idea but after receiving his ration pack, he said he was more nervous than expected.
“It’s about the same amount of food I would eat in a day and it has to last a week,” Tom said.
As a team Tom, Zac Luimes, Lucy-Sue Beukers and Morgan Chapple have already raised more than $2400 all of which will go towards helping refugees.
But Lucy-Sue said it is more than just the money.
“Anybody can give a donation, this is putting our money where our mouth is, it’s about taking action and actually doing something,” she said.
While plenty of their friends, family and classmates have donated money and are supportive, they said some people have called them crazy.
“People are surprised that at a young age we are aware of and passionate about the struggles of refugees and that we are willing to act on it,” Lucy-Sue said.
“We are far more fortunate than refugees and it can be hard to understand what their life is like but this will give us a glimpse, we will experience something they experience,” Tom said.
Now that the rations have started, Zac said his goal is to control his emotions and “not get too hangry”.
To donate to the cause see www.actforpeace.rationchallenge.org.au/fundraisers/edenrefugees.