'Living testimony' to Rice Bowl donations visits Utah

Intermountain Catholic

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Thomas Awiapo, who began attending school in Ghana because Catholic Relief Services offered a snack to the students, speaks at the Diocese of Salt Lake City's Pastoral Center. IC photo/Marie Mischel

SALT LAKE CITY — Thomas Awiapo, whose two younger brothers died of hunger in their Ghanaian village, attributes his life to Operation Rice Bowl, the Lenten effort during which Catholics across the United States contribute money from their fasting.

Last year, Operation Rice Bowl garnered about $6 million for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Catholic Relief Services, which coordinates the effort.

"I’m living testimony, the perfect incarnation of what happens to your support for Catholic Relief Services," said Awiapo during a presentation at the Diocese of Salt Lake City Pastoral Center on Oct. 25.

Born in a small village without electricity or running water, Awiapo and his three brothers were orphaned young.

"We were very hungry kids," he said. "We cried for food. We fought one another for food sometimes. Sometimes we went to bed so hungry it was impossible to sleep."

The only water was from the river, which was miles away, he said. "Myself, all animals – we all competed for the same source of water. Lots of germs. You didn’t need a microscope to see those germs. They were very visible in your eyes. You would look at them and say, ‘Sorry, germs. I have got to drink you.’ I know many who have passed, drinking that water."

His younger brothers died one after the other, he said; his older brother left the village and hasn’t been heard from since.

Then CRS built a school in the area and offered a snack to the children who attended. No one in Awiapo’s family had ever gone to school, but "I went to that school hungry and looking for food," he said. "I hated school but I loved the snack."

He stayed in school, eventually earning a master’s degree. Now married with four children, he works for CRS in Ghana.

"Feel with me the power of just a little snack to a very hungry child in a village," he said. "That little snack changed the story of my life."

Awiapo’s story is the story of millions in Haiti, East Africa, Botswana, Mexico and even the United States, he said; CRS operates in 100 countries.

In areas where children often travel great distances to school, "to realize there is that little snack for you to eat and sit in class is priceless," he said. "It’s so priceless. And that little snack comes from that little box called Operation Rice Bowl."

In addition to the presentation at the Pastoral Center, Awiapo also spoke at all three Utah Catholic high schools and to parishioners at Saint Ann Catholic Church.

"I am traveling across this beautiful, great country of yours and I’m bringing along a very simple message," he said, "a simple message but very important message, and it’s the message of gratitude. Thank you for the gift of Catholic Relief Services."

CRS brings hopes justice, compassion and love to millions of people around the world, he said.

"You should really, really be proud of Catholic Relief Services," he said. "It’s a beautiful organization and it’s yours. There are a lot of good things happening around the world in your name."

Among those who attended Awiapo’s presentation was Clare Rakowski, a Saint Catherine of Siena/Newman Center parishioner who is working on a degree in counseling from Westminster College and wants to work with refugees.

"I think that having speakers about it is important because we don’t get that information because it’s an ocean away we don’t hear about the poverty there," she said.

Jean Hill, director of the diocesan Peace and Justice Commission, said Awiapo’s presentation showed how a meal from Operation Rice Bowl helps those in need.

"If we could get him to talk to all of our Catholics, our Rice Bowl contributions would be outstanding because you can’t listen to him and not want to be a part of making that kind of simple but powerful change," Hill said. "My few quarters over Lent allowed him to go to school, get an education and raise a family, despite not having a family of his own to raise him."