What did you give up?

What did you give up for the 2008 40 Hour Famine?

Email us your Famine Weekend story, photos and videos and we will publish here

Here are some great examples from students around the country:

WESTERN AUSTRALIA
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
NEW SOUTH WALES

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Students from WA’s Ocean Reef Senior High School who participated in the 40HF this year

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

The Head and students from Scotch College’s Middle School painted some of the walls of their school with a very important message.

Over 100 students in Year 6/7 classes at Reynella East Primary School went without electricity on Monday, entertainment on Tuesday, talking on Wednesday, food on Thursday and furniture on Friday.

Which day would have been the hardest for you to get through?

"Child labour is not right. The 40 hour famine has helped me understand that even though my life may not be fun all the time, I am so lucky compared to the 60 million children in India. For me it was a choice to go without food but for them it isn’t." – Melanie, Year 7

NEW SOUTH WALES

At Cerdon College in Merrylands, 150 students gave up food, the use of technology, their furniture or speaking.

"I went without eating and my heater, and others camped in their backyard or went without their phones and iPods," Natalie, Year 12.

Year 10 students at Rouse Hill Anglican School were full of great ideas and enthusiasm for their first 40 Hour Famine. After running factory simulation workshops for years 7-10, they kicked off the first night of the Famine weekend with a sleepover. Almost every student in year 10 signed up for the night and donated or raised the $50 minimum entry.

Macquarie Fields High School used competition as an incentive, encouraging students to participate and break last year’s total amount raised (they succeeded!).

The entire secondary school body at Richard Johnson Anglican School sat cross-legged for three minutes in an assembly, and were asked to imagine how it would feel if they were forced to do that for the whole day while working.

Primary students from Belmont Christian College extended Famine’s child labour theme to their fundraising, when students offered to do small jobs and housework for funds in place of straight donations.

At Melba School’s high school campus, students organised a Nintendo Wii competition at lunchtime to raise money. World Vision staff were educated on the game, the rules and the Wii apparatus while they spoke to students about child labour issues.

2008 saw students working hard on some truly innovative ways to raise money.

Julia, year 10 student at Pittwater High School summed it up well:

"Something so small can be something so big. Saving a life is the biggest thing in the world."

The 40 Hour Famine is a community education and fundraising initiative of World Vision Australia.