Students got a taste of poverty at an unusual banquet where hunger was on the menu.

A group of youngsters at Bermuda High School for Girls organised the "hunger banquet" to demonstrate that not everybody in the world is lucky enough to get as much to eat as they need.

The event — to which students from other schools on the Island were invited — saw diners pay $5 without knowing what they'd be getting for their money.

Organisers then allotted everyone a particular class which determined whether they got a paltry helping of rice, a more ample plate of rice and corn or spaghetti and meatballs served by waiters.

The idea came about when three students heard about a hunger banquet when attending a conference in Australia held by Round Square, an international association of schools, including BHS, which encourages youngsters to become responsible global citizens.

Christine Jack, 17, said: "We decided to do it to send a message to students showing them how wealth in the world is divided and also to display the fact that in a rich country like Bermuda, there is poverty."

The banquet on Friday was part of the private school's fourth annual diversity day celebrations and school guidance counsellor Tina Nash said this year's event was more political than previously.

Christine explained that every student was issued with a passport and a code which determined how they would be treated as they travelled between classrooms decorated to represent different countries. That came about, according to Jackie MacLellan, 18, because fellow student Annefa Burke, 17, always seems to get stopped at airports on school trips because of her Jamaican passport. Students with a certain code were subject to random checks and questioning yesterday from security guards.

The day also saw the BHS choir and students from other schools performing two John Lennon songs: 'Imagine' and 'Give Peace a Chance'.