Students To Skip Dinner

More than 2500 undergraduates have signed up to skip dinner tonight to help the Harvard Hunger Action Committee (HAC) and the Harvard and Radcliffe International Development Forum (IDF) raise money for the construction of a health clinic and dispensary in Kenya.

The organizations will raise $3203.50 for the construction of the clinic said Albert F. Park '88, who helped to organize the fast. By skipping dinner, each student will contribute $1.35 toward the building of the clinic, said Park, a member of IDF.

The $1.35 covers the cost of the raw food in each students' meal. Undergraduates on the meal plan pay more than $4 for dinner, but most of the money goes to the kitchen staff. The number of food service workers is not reduced for fast nights, so Harvard does not donate the rest of the money.

"I've been really pleased with the joint effort of the members of each committee and the student body," Doug W. Marx '90 said. Only 1800 students participated in a similar fast last year, said Marx, who is a leader of the HAC.

Both IDF and HAC are working under the Overseas Development Network (ODN), an international charitable organization founded by a Harvard student and based in Cambridge that frequently coordinates such activities. Bike Aid, another ODN program, will match the amount the fast raises dollar for dollar. Members of Bike Aid, including several Harvard students, participate in a summer-long ride across the country each year, and last year raised over $200,000, an official at ODN said yesterday.

IDF representative Stefan Klasen '91 said the purpose of the fast is to raise both money and awareness about the situation in Kenya.

The clinic will provide medicine and education to residents of Kapchelal Village, which is located in one of the less developed regions of Kenya, organizers said. It will focus on malnutrition and parasitic diseases. HAC is sponsoring the project because these issues are directly related to hunger in Africa, Marx said.

The ODN expects to complete the building of the clinic over the next two years, and it will administer the construction through a liason in Kenya, the ODN official said. She described the clinic as a long term project oriented towards development and not just relieving immediate problems.