Madison Nualart 
By Hannah Jones, Madison Nualart and Alexandra Margelu
FEB 12, 2018
Once a month, Saint Thomas Aquinas High School’s (STA) Campus Ministry hosts a Night of Fellowship. This month’s event was directed by the senior Campus Ministry members who organized and planned the activities for the evening. This is the second year that they incorporated the The Rich Man, Poor Man theme. The club members decided to continue supporting the worthwhile intentions of Misión Manos Hermanas. The Rich Man, Poor Man Meal provided participants with a firsthand experience of the meager meals on which some of the population in Peru survive. Campus Ministry felt it was appropriate to share this experience with STA students and faculty.
Raider Review spoke with the President of Campus Ministry, Tiffany Soto, who explained the event, saying “This Night of Fellowship is very special. It is the Rich Man, Poor Man’s Meal. The money we make fundraising for this event will go toward Misión Manos Hermanas, which are students in Peru. The money we raise will be for scholarships for them to attend schools in Peru.” Mrs. Concepcion Robertson, a board member with Misión Manos Hermanas, was the featured speaker at this event. She gave insight about the people’s struggles that she witnessed while traveling through Peru. She spoke passionately about many of the families whom she met. In one story, she explained the struggle that the parents of a disabled boy went through. Both parents had to work multiple jobs to earn enough money to move out of the impoverished area in which they lived, as their son’s asthma was greatly affected by that environment.
To help the attendees fully understand how people in Peru are born into a social class, Campus Ministry organized a clever activity. At the entrance of STA’s cafeteria, participants picked a colored piece of paper out of a bowl, without looking. The point of this exercise was to illustrate the fact that people do not choose the conditions into which they are born. The color of the paper determined whether a “rich meal” or a “poor meal” would be served. If purple papers were selected, then congratulations! The holders were presented with crowns and treated to a meal fit for royalty. The higher class meal consisted of salad, rice, and chicken. Meanwhile if a blue paper was drawn from the bowl, the holder represented a middle class Peruvian. They had the privilege of using silverware with their meal of rice and chicken. Finally, if a participant received a brown piece of paper, as most attendees did, the meal was just rice and they had no meat or silverware. As this is what most people in Peru have to eat in such indigent conditions.
It was a mind-opening evening that moved many students and faculty to be grateful for the life with which they have been blessed. The Raider community thanks Mrs. Concepcion Robertson for her touching presentation and Campus Ministry for a memorable Night of Fellowship.
