By Gillian Graham

Staff Writer

Twenty University of New England students huddled around a fire for warmth, trying toward off a thick frost with blankets and cardboard boxes.

That,said senior Man Ho, was the scene Wednesday night as students on the Biddefordcampus took part in a “one night without a home” event designed to educate themabout homelessness in Maine.

“Ican’t say that’s exactly what it’s like to be homeless in the winter, but Ihope it was close,” Ho said.

Ho,a 22-year-old medical biology major, is no stranger to the complexities ofhunger. As a child, he lived in refugee camp and helped grow food for hisfamily after funding cuts created a food shortage. Inspired in part by his ownexperiences, he spearheaded a weeklong “Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week”at the university to give students a firsthand look at the true affect ofhunger and homelessness in Maine and beyond.

“Ourgoal with observing this week is to help raise awareness about thesocioeconomic disparities experienced in our state and throughout the world,”he said.

Hosaid the inaugural UNE event was timed to coincide with the National Hunger andHomelessness Awareness Week held Nov. 15 to 21. The week included an OxfamInternational hunger banquet, a guest speaker, a movie and a reflectionsession. Students also will volunteer at a local food pantry or meal programwithin the next month.

Forthe night outside, Ho told participants to leave all electronic devices andpersonal belongings at home. Wearing as many layers as they wanted and carryingblankets, they arrived to find Ho had not provided the cardboard shelters hesaid he would because in real life, homeless people must make their own, hesaid.

Instead,Ho sent his classmates across campus to rifle through trashcans and dumpstersin search of cardboard or other materials to build temporary shelters. Thoughsome students decided they could not spend the whole night outside, Ho said animpressive number of students stuck it out, huddling around the fire for warmthuntil dawn broke.

“Theydidn’t know what it was like to be homeless. What we did really changed theirpoint of view and they’re more grateful for what they have now,” he said.

FreshmanAlvin Lam of Portland said he spent only part of the night outside because itwas “too cold.”

“Itwas freezing and I learned what it was like to be homeless in the cold,” hesaid. “I never wanted to do that again.”

Lamsaid spending even a few hours outside made him rethink what he learned abouthomeless people while living in Portland. He said he thinks many homelesspeople in the city are able to spend at least some nights at area shelters. Theidea of people living outside in the cold all the time is “very sad.”

Lamsaid he thinks people don’t spend enough time talking about the issues ofhunger and homelessness, especially on the local level.

“Thisweek Man made for us raised a lot of awareness,” he said.

FreshmanNatty Vivattanakulpanit of Thailand said she also participated in severalactivities throughout the week. She said the activities made her think moreabout what it is like to be homeless and hungry.

Vivattanakulpanitsaid she also learned “everyone can help,” even if only in small ways likegiving food or money to a homeless person.

Theweek also included a hunger banquet, the third time the event has been hostedon campus. Ho said the International Club hosted the event in past years. Thebanquet simulates three different socioeconomic classes and gives students achance to see what life is like in a third world country, he said.

Asstudents entered the room, each drew a ticket designating which class theywould belong to for the evening. Those in the high class sat at a table, wherethey were served a full meal. Middle class participants sat on a chair forsimple meal of rice and beans and water.

Thosein the low class sat on the floor with only a bamboo leaf as a plate and noutensils.

“Theycan have as much rice as they can put on a bamboo leaf, which isn’t much,” Hosaid. “It’s a small taste of how hunger can affect someone on a daily basis.”

Hosaid the banquet also included a video and discussion about life in differentclasses and how easily people can move between the bottom two classes. He saidpeople were moved between the two classes to simulate how a laid-off middleclass worker could quickly slip into going without food.

Hosaid students are generally “surprised and shocked” at what is going on aroundthe world.

“Butin general the feedback was very limited. We throw a lot of information at themat once and it takes time to digest,” he said. “We have people here complainabout the cafeteria food, but regardless, we have three meals a day.”

Ho,a Vietnam native,relocated to Portland with his family 10 years ago. As a young child, he andhis family spent seven years in an Indonesian refugee camp after his parentswere prosecuted by the communist Vietnamese government. Ho said he left Vietnamfor the camp when he was 3.

“Growingup in that environment shaped me to who I am today. I know what it’s like tohave nothing,” he said.

Hosaid life in the camp was “sometimes good, sometimes bad.” For the first fewyears, the United Nations funded the camp and there was enough food foreveryone. As the number of refugees increased and funding decreased, foodbecame scarce and conditions deteriorated.

“Weended up in a barbed wire fence area with military watch towers surrounding thecamp,” he said. “Food became less and less.”

Whenthe UN stopped providing food, Ho said refugees turned to raising their ownfood, including chicken, ducks, pigs and vegetables. They would sometimes tradeand sell their products at a local market.

In1990, Ho said the UN refugee program stopped funding camps for Vietnameserefugees in Southeast Asia. When Indonesia could no longer provide refuge, Hoand his family returned to Vietnam before moving to the United States.

Aftersettling in Portland, Ho said his family still struggled with putting enoughfood on the table. Despite working hard, his parents had to get help from alocal food pantry, he said.

“It’sbetter here. I’m grateful for that,” he said. “In a way I always keep thethought in the back of my mind that the food may not be the best, but at leastI don’t have to go to bed hungry.”

Though the UNE event did not draw asmany participants as he had hoped, Ho said he considers the week a successbecause it changed the outlook of at least a few students.

“Mybelief is we can’t change the world overnight, but we can change one person.I’m extremely happy I could do that with a few students here,” he said.

Hosaid one student in particular impressed him because, after participatingthroughout the week, she has decided to do more community service. He said hisclassmate comes from a family where she doesn’t have to worry about food ormoney, but talking about hunger and homelessness inspired her to not take thosecomforts for granted.

“Shespent the night outside. She realized anything can happen overnight,” he said.“It changed her mind completely.”

Ho,who graduates this year and will join the Peace Corps, said schooladministrators have expressed interest in continuing – and possibly expanding –the event next year. Ho said an important goal of the week was to startconversations with students about issues while encouraging them to “thinkglobally and act locally.”

“Inthe past we have had events, but we didn’t take the time to sit down and digestwhat we learned,” he said.

“Hopefullythey can do it again next year and do it better.”

StaffWriter Gillian Graham can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 213.

Bythe numbers

About10 percent of Maine households experience food insecurity: that is about141,000 people, or half of York County, or more than six times the populationof Biddeford.