I Have a Dream navigator Naomi Bromberg with Tikipunga Primary School students during Breakfast Club. Photo / Sarah Marshall Photography
I Have a Dream navigator Naomi Bromberg with Tikipunga Primary School students during Breakfast Club. Photo / Sarah Marshall Photography
If hunger were a monster, what would it look like?
That’s the question Tikipunga Primary School students were asked by charitable trust I Have a Dream to start a conversation around the issue of hunger.
The trust works in schools and in the community to build partnerships with familiesand students to help pave the way to success.
The idea of creating monsters to spark conversations about food insecurity with youngsters popped into navigator Naomi Bromberg’s head late one night.
I Have a Dream navigator Naomi Bromberg with Tikipunga Primary School students during Breakfast Club. Photo / Sarah Marshall Photography
“I’m working with Year 1 and 2’s and I thought that group in particular don’t get a choice or opportunity to have their voices heard,” she said.
The next day, Bromberg took that question to the school’s Breakfast Club. She organised a lunchtime activity for students between Years 0-6, where they designed their own “hunger monster”.
A 'hunger monster' designed by a Tikipunga Primary School student as part of a conversation around hunger. Photo / I Have a Dream Charitable Trust
She said the task allowed children to express their experiences.
The most heart-breaking perspective offered by the children was that “nobody was listening”, Bromberg said.
The pupils then used their drawings to create an animation to visualise how the monster would be defeated.
Bromberg said the story the children came up with had been full of empathy.
“It’s quite interesting the way to defeat the hunger monster was as simple as ... you feed it.”
More specifically, jam on toast.
Another 'hunger monster' designed by a Tikipunga Primary School student. Photo / I Have a Dream Charitable Trust
Bromberg was heartened by the children’s solution.
“That’s exactly what I feed the kids,” she said.
The idea of the project had been to uplift children’s voices, Bromberg said.
I Have a Dream chief executive officer Shane Gorst said their approach to the hunger monster was a timely reminder.
When asked "If hunger was a monster, what would it look like?", this is what a Tikipunga Primary School student came up with. Photo / I Have a Dream Charitable Trust
“As adults we can over-complicate things. We over-politicise and we lose sight of what’s really important.
“If you want someone to honestly and simply describe a problem, ask a kid.”
Gorst said the Breakfast Club run at Tikipunga Primary School also played an important role in allowing children to have a trusted relationship with an adult.
“It gives an opportunity for kids to express themselves and have a voice.”
Naomi Bromberg with students from Tikipunga Primary School with their breakfast. Photo / Sarah Marshall Photography
He believed sharing food was a “simple and human way” to connect.
Gorst was amazed at how the hunger monster was befriended by the children.
“That’s a really important lesson,” he said.
Bromberg said she hoped to see more Breakfast Clubs at their partner schools across the region to start similar conversations.
Brodie Stone covers crime and emergency for the Northern Advocate. She has spent most of her life in Whangārei and is passionate about delving into issues that matter to Northlanders and beyond.
