As of 2004, the current world debt was estimated to be $44.61 trillion. Right now, the total public debt in the US is $8,887,446,016,917.88. Additionally, the national debt has continued to rise an average of 1.98 billion dollars per day since September 2006. If every person in the United States contributed the amount of money they would spend to buy just one tall coffee (an average of $2.50), that money would become $895,332,645 to help people who sometimes live on less than a dollar per day. On April 11, 2007, students at St. Mary’s Academy (SMA) participated in their annual Poverty Awareness Day, learning that their day’s coffee could make change possible. This year’s theme was debt because, according to Sarah Eden ’07, chairwoman of the fundraising and publicity committee, “almost everyone knows someone who is affected by debt in some way. With college, and even at St. Mary's, most people have some general knowledge about personal debt and with Poverty Awareness Day we can teach them even more about debt in the USA and globally.” Speakers included Geoffrey Bunyoli, a Kenyan now married to an American woman and living in Portland, and Dr. Patricia Rumer. Dr. Rumer and Mr. Bunyoli both work for Jubilee Oregon, a sector of the national group, known as Jubilee USA that promotes international debt forgiveness.
The day opened with an assembly, where a presentation introduced the day’s objectives and students read personal accounts of people whose lives were affected by debt: a family with personal debt, a student with debts from student loans, and the story of Dubai’s many indentured workers. During the day, members of the dialogue committee presented information about indentured labor and micro loans and the students had a discussion about the labor situation in third-world countries. “The discussions were great and a lot of the girls were really shocked that much of the clothing they wear comes from indentured labor—near slavery—condition.” says senior Sarah Goff, chairwoman of this year’s Poverty Awareness Day committee.
The simulation committee introduced the basics of personal debt, particularly payday loans, mortgages, and credit card debt, then had the students play a board game in which students started with different income and insurance levels, faced life situations, and had to make financial decisions in response. Interestingly, according to Sarah Goff, “Most of the students ended up in debt within the half hour.”
The action response committee organized the annual Sister Shawn Marie Barry Drive (in memory of former teacher and administrator Sister Shawn Marie Barry) by collecting basic hygiene and school supplies for Operation Shoebox, a project of Medical Teams International (formerly known as Northwest Medical Teams), which will be sent to children in Honduras, a country heavily affected by the international debt crisis.
This year, a new evening event was added to the Poverty Awareness schedule. Poverty Awareness Evening was an evening of education for parents and community members. On Tuesday April 17th, former SMA parents Johnston Mitchell and Vivian Popperl, came to SMA representing CARE (Credit Abuse Resistance Program) and they shared with the audience the importance of money management, especially these days when identity theft via credit/debit cards is so prevalent. The evening was a chance for parents to get their questions answered about how to best help their kids and for community members to get valuable information.
Founded in 1859 by the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, St. Mary’s Academy of Portland, is Oregon’s oldest continuously operating secondary school and one of 716 all-female schools in the country. The student body represents a diverse background of young women from over 30 urban, suburban, and rural communities in Oregon and Southwest Washington. St. Mary’s Academy is distinguished by development of the whole person, and is the only school in the state to receive three U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbons Schools awards.
the amount of money they would spend to buy just one tall coffee (an average of $2.50), that money would become $895,332,645 to help people who sometimes live on less than a dollar per day. On April 11, 2007, students at St. Mary’s Academy (SMA) participated in their annual Poverty Awareness Day, learning that their day’s coffee could make change possible. This year’s theme was debt because, according to Sarah Eden ’07, chairwoman of the fundraising and publicity committee, “almost everyone knows someone who is affected by debt in some way. With college, and even at St. Mary's, most people have some general knowledge about personal debt and with Poverty Awareness Day we can teach them even more about debt in the USA and globally.” Speakers included Geoffrey Bunyoli, a Kenyan now married to an American woman and living in Portland, and Dr. Patricia Rumer. Dr. Rumer and Mr. Bunyoli both work for Jubilee Oregon, a sector of the national group, known as Jubilee USA that promotes international debt forgiveness.
dialogue committee presented information about indentured labor and micro loans and the students had a discussion about the labor situation in third-world countries. “The discussions were great and a lot of the girls were really shocked that much of the clothing they wear comes from indentured labor—near slavery—condition.” says senior Sarah Goff, chairwoman of this year’s Poverty Awareness Day committee. 
This year, a new evening event was added to the Poverty Awareness schedule. Poverty Awareness Evening was an evening of education for parents and community members. On Tuesday April 17th, former SMA parents Johnston Mitchell and Vivian Popperl, came to SMA representing CARE (Credit Abuse Resistance Program) and they shared with the audience the importance of money management, especially these days when identity theft via credit/debit cards is so prevalent. The evening was a chance for parents to get their questions answered about how to best help their kids and for community members to get valuable information.