The Hunger Monster

IF HUNGER WERE A MONSTER, WHAT WOULD IT LOOK LIKE? 

That’s the question students at Tikipunga Primary School were asked by their I Have a Dream Navigator Naomi Bromberg, and one which inspired beautiful and enlightening responses and artworks which have now been brought to life in a powerful animated poem, voiced by the tamariki themselves, turning their personal anecdotes into a shared tool for empathy, understanding, and conversation.

This unique project gives voice to tamariki and their experiences with food insecurity, offering a fresh, personal lens on childhood hunger through their eyes.

Naomi has been running the Breakfast Club at Tikipunga Primary School for the past 18 months. Each morning, around 30 tamariki – close to 10% of the school roll – sit down to breakfast, giving them the fuel and focus they need to make the most of their school day. 

Naomi came up with The Hunger Monster as part of an after school art-focussed programme she was running as a way to give tamariki a voice and create a resource that could help kids understand and navigate their own experiences with hunger. She was struck by how all the children naturally lead with empathy in their responses, and was inspired to turn this into a story that students, their teachers and whānau would be proud to share.

“So much of Aotearoa’s food inequality discussion happens at a top-down level, which is crucial for policy change,” says Naomi Bromberg. “But I wanted to give my tamariki a platform to let them tell their own story in their own words. Marginalised children often don’t get heard. This project gave them an outlet to express what hunger really feels like, and a creative way to process and communicate their feelings.”

Recent statistics highlight just how urgent the issue is. A 2024 report by the Helen Clark Foundation on Social Cohesion in New Zealand found that 25% of New Zealanders sometimes or often went without meals. This insight is supported by the Ministry of Health’s 2023/24 Annual Health Survey, where one in four children (27.0%) in New Zealand are reported to live in households where food ran out often or sometimes. For Māori children that figure rises to one in three (34.3%), and for Pacific children it’s over half (54.8%).

Tikipunga Primary Principal Whaea Judy says the school sees first-hand the impact of food insecurity on learning and wellbeing. “We know that when kids are hungry, they can’t concentrate, they don’t feel settled, and it’s much harder for them to engage fully in school life. The Breakfast Club makes a real difference, and The Hunger Monster project has given our tamariki an important opportunity to be part of the conversation.”

The Hunger Monster story was shared today in the New Zealand Herald and featured on the front page of the Northern Advocate.

I Have a Dream, the charitable trust behind Tikipunga Primary School’s Breakfast Club (supported by KidsCan and Sanitarium), partners with schools, whānau, and communities to provide long-term, wraparound support for tamariki and rangatahi. The programme follows students from Year 1 right through to tertiary study or vocational pathways, offering mentoring, academic assistance, life skills development, and interest-based opportunities that broaden horizons and build confidence. 

By working closely with a child’s full support network and staying engaged over many years, I Have a Dream aims to break cycles of inequity and inequality to create real, lasting change – helping every child reach their full potential and dream big.

I Have a Dream CEO Shane Gorst believes The Hunger Monster is a powerful example of what happens when we listen to children and give them space to express themselves. 

“It’s creative, it’s personal, and it brings to light the very real challenges so many of our tamariki face. What really hits home for me is that when you listen to the children’s narration, it is led by empathy. Projects like this are a reminder that while we work toward long-term solutions to food insecurity, there’s also huge value in making sure kids are heard, supported, and empowered right now,” says Gorst. 

For media enquiries please contact Kristen Smith at Unfold kristen@unfoldocmmunications.co.nz

The Hunger Monster animation produced by Ravel.

Photography of Breakfast Club by Sarah Marshall Photography.