BENTON — As an orphan in Ghana, Thomas Awiapo watched two of his brothers slowly die of starvation. Only the food he got from Operation Rice Bowl, he said, kept him from sharing their fate.
For the past 34 years, millions of American Catholics have dropped their dimes and nickels into vaguely bowl-shaped boxes each Lent. Those modest donations add up and go to fund Catholic Relief Services' work among the poor around the globe.
"This little box saved my life," Awiapo said, holding up the cardboard container.
He was speaking to a rapt audience of more than 40 fourth- through eighth-graders at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic School in Benton. He visited Catholic groups across Arkansas as part of a 10-week national tour to promote the Lenten charity program.
"As I stand here," Awiapo said, "thereare millions of invisible faces of children behind me whose lives have been transformed and empowered because of you and because of this little box."
Traditionally, Catholics abstain from certain foods or behaviors during the six weeks of Lent, which begins this week with Ash Wednesday. For many Christians, this small sacrifice helps them to reflect on Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.
Catholic Relief Services, the overseas development agency of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, encourages the faithful also to use the Lenten season to fast and pray in solidarity with the hungry and poor. Whatever money they save by going without, participants are asked to put in the cardboard "rice bowl."
Last year, Catholics nationwide raised more than $7 million for Operation Rice Bowl. The Catholic Diocese of Little Rock,which encompasses the state, contributed about $29,500 to the initiative.
Seventy-five percent of the money raised goes to support various development projects in more than 40 countries worldwide. These include supplying clean water, providing microfinance loans for small businesses, establishing schools and providing basic health care and nutrition.
Twenty-five percent of Operation Rice Bowl contributions remain within each participating diocese. In Arkansas, those donations support the CatholicCharities' Parish Emergency Assistance program, which helps the poor with utility bills, housing, emergency transportation, prescription medicines, hearing aids, eyeglasses and other urgent needs.
The emergency assistance program is open to anyone in need, said Rebecca Spencer, development specialist for Catholic Charities of Arkansas.
This year, she expects 117 Catholic parishes, schools and other groups in Arkansas to participate in the Lenten program.
"What I like about Operation Rice Bowl is that it gives everyone an opportunity to make a difference in the world," Spencer said. "It doesn't matter if a person is poor, rich, young, old. ... Even if a person can only makea very small monetary sacrifice through Operation Rice Bowl, they can see what a huge difference it makes to someone like Thomas."
Awiapo, who now works for Catholic Relief Services, can attest to the difference the program has made in his West African homeland.
None of the students at Our Lady of Fatima whispered or squirmed as Awiapo described his desperate childhood in a Ghanaian village.
His parents died in quick succession, leaving him and his three brothers to fend for themselves. Often their only food was whatever small animals they could hit with their slingshots.
"As four little orphans, we were always, always hungry,"he said. "For us, there was nothing called breakfast and nothing called lunch. A lot of times we would fight over food."
After his two younger brothers died, Awiapo's eldest brother ran away from the village. Awiapo never learned what became of his brother.
His salvation, he said, came when Catholic Relief Services opened a mission and school in his village.
He said the teachers "tricked him" into attending lessons by providing two meals a day. Operation Rice Bowl funds provided the powered milk and boiled wheat he mixed together each morning for breakfast.
Though initially a reluctant student, he soon came to appreciate his education for more than providing a full stomach. He also was touched by the generosity he received from the priests at the mission.
"I never had shoes until the priests gave me sneakers," he recalled. "That was the best Christmas gift."
He was baptized, and he eventually won scholarships to attend a university in Ghana and then received a master's ofpublic administration at what is now California State University at East Bay.
U.S. PARTNERSHIPS
Today, the son of uneducated farmers who never heard of Christianity coordinates health and education programs across his native land. He also helps dioceses and parishes in the United States form partnerships with communities in Ghana.
After class, Our Lady of Fatima students said Awiapo put a face on the giving they do each Lent.
Nicole Rhodes, a sixth-grader, said she'd think of him every time she dropped a donation in the box.
"I'll put more money in because of what I heard all this stuff does," she said.
Awiapo doesn't know howold he is; he guesses somewhere around 40. He's now a father of four children. His youngest daughter was born just a day after he left in late January for this tour of the United States.
He looks forward to seeing his daughter for the first time on Palm Sunday, but for now, he is eager to share his story with American Catholics.
"It is never possible for all of us in this world to be rich," Awiapo told the children at Our Lady of Fatima. "A world in which everyone is rich would be a boring world. ... But I pray that we will live in a world where the poor and the rich can live together and share just a little bit of our poverty and riches together." More information about Operation Rice Bowl is available at www.orb.crs.org.
Religion, Pages 14, 15 on 02/21/2009