Day Seven... The last one!

I can't say I'm not glad today has finally come! Its been a tough one, especially when I have been sitting at my computer non-stop the past few days working on assignments... all I wanted was study snacks!!

But despite my struggles its been an amazing experience and my eyes have really been opened to how much food is inter-woven throughout our lifestyles and culture. I was thinking about it the other day, all this week I have barely seen anyone and I wondered why (aside from the fact that I have a tonne of work to be doing). When you think about it, our social lives often pivot around consuming food or beverages.. you meet up with friends for a coffee or a wine, or go out for desert- take food out of the picture and its sad to admit but what can you do when its cold outside? Not a lot.

I've been forced to practice a lot of patience this week as I have been around people that haven't been doing this famine, and claim they are hungry around me. It made me realise what I am like normally, I love food, I love flavour. I think thats one thing I really missed was cooking. I felt like I had taken away my favourite hobby and there was nothing for me to do when at home other than do work. And I have always taken this for granted, never truly appreciating how lucky I am to have all these ingredients to cook with and make meals that are yummy.
I have a whole new perception of food now, seeing it more for its necessity than enjoyment (not to say that I won't go straight back into enjoying my food!) and appreciating the value of half a cup of rice per serving... or less!
 Speaking of which, its strange how your body adapts!! On the first couple of days I was hungry, and wanted more than half a cup of rice. I would have my serving and then an hour or so later I would be hungry again. But as the week progressed my body sussed out what was going on and started releasing the energy slower rather than in bursts, So I was more than satisfied with my half a cup and as the week got further on I would have much less (possibly not a good thing)... as in half a cup per day.

I admit, this hasn't been fun. But it was never supposed to be. Hopefully this whole experience of mine will be able to help out those in East Africa by people sponsoring me :)

be the change you wish to see!!

Day Five

I seem to have lost my appetite, at the beginning of the week I would chow down my serving of rice and be left wanting more (but not needing it)... But now I will eat only half of my serving and not feel like eating for ages. I think my body is adapting to this rice diet and is now releasing the energy slower through the day rather than in bursts.

I had my cup of milk yesterday (we decided we should be allowed 1 through the week just because taking EVERYTHING out of our diets when our bodies are used to regular intakes probably wouldn't be a good idea)... It was incredible, so good to be able to drink something with flavour and it perked me up a bit.


I feel like the next couple of days will speed by, its all downhill from here, and I cannot wait to fry up the Halloumi cheese thats waiting in my fridge!!
As much as this has been a huge struggle for me emotionally and physically, I am really appreciating the challenge and am gaining a whole new perspective on the suffering that millions of people experience daily throughout their entire lives...

Day Three

Not going to lie today was ridiculously hard!!
I had a strop in the morning when I had my rice for breakfast and refused to eat it.  I then got quite upset with myself for doing this because I keep thinking about how I have a day where I know this ends but the people I am doing this all for having NOTHING and would give anything to have had that bowl of rice that I chucked out!!

I am way more aware of other peoples eating habits and how regularly they eat as well... I walked past a girl today and she was eating and then said to her friends "i physically can't eat this" because she was so full.

This is the attitude I hate... eating because we can and not appreciating how lucky we are.Its like the old saying parents used to say to get you to finish your meal... "the starving kids in africa would love that" ... well yeah they would but we can't get that food to them can we?
How about, rather than spending money on excess food... buy what  we need and then with the spare cash that we would have spent buying the chocolate biscuits and fancy fruit juice, donate to charity that gives to those starving in Africa? So you won't be wasting any food that the kids would love and you are giving in a way that actually helps them.

No tea for me

I have just substituted a cup of tea that I am craving quite a lot for a mug of hot water... its actually quite refreshing... might keep this as a regular drink

Day Two

Ok, so almost at the end of day two- still don't hate rice however I am craving food with yummy goodness but I'm not that hungry (at the moment).

I am starting to really become aware of how prevalent eating is within our culture... We eat to pass time or because our minds tell us to but do we actually need it? I was thinking that if we spent money on only necessary amounts of food- what we need rather than what we may want- we would have greater disposable incomes that could then allow us to give more generously to charity and aid that targets poverty and famine around the world.

I struggle to come to terms with us being able to live with all these luxuries like chocolate and ice-cream (totally not necessary for survival... which is why we eat to start with) when more than half of the human population are living in conditions where they don't know when their next 'meal' of rice or maize will be. I cannot fathom this uncertainty... I have always been able to have 3 meals a day and I can pick and choose what I have for them (to an extent).

So despite my desire for some yummy food and a HUGE cup of tea... I will power on. There is so much injustice in this world and I want to come to grips with how it feels to live a little bit more like the majority of human beings... the only difference is that I know when this will end for me and I can plan my first meal- sadly the 12million in the East of Africa at the moment don't have that luxury.


Being the change you wish to see is proving to be quite hard and its only day two... More emotionally that physically!

Meal #1 - Rice for breakfast

Its not much fun waking up and realising you can't have your morning cup of tea.. or a bit of toast for that matter. I have never had rice for breakfast until now and its quite a humbling experience.
Take away all those fancy cereals, breads and spreads and your early morning meal becomes some what of a different experience.

I was forced into a time of reflection whilst eating my bowl of rice. The rice wasn't un-enjoyable (maybe because its the first?) but it wasn't my favourite way to start the day.
This is the process I want to be going through. Realising how blessed I am with where I live and the opportunities I have and really being aware of that but to the extent that I am fully aware of how I am in the minority with my lifestyle... most people in the world are hungry and don't get three meals a day.
Why is this how the world is? There is plenty of wealth, plenty of food for all to be fed 3 meals a day... yet somehow distribution is a little 'wonky'.

That is just my thoughts for now!!

7 Days of eating ONLY plain rice and drinking ONLY water... Why?

Everyone should know that there is great unrest in Somalia due to the Rebels as well as a HUGE drought and famine in the horn of Africa. There are 12million people living in far from humane conditions, starving and suffering from disease.
For some reason, we in the west are totally unaffected by such a predicament and are able to carry on our daily lives as per usual... eating our 3 meals a day (with a few snacks here and there) and are able to choose what these meals entail.. It breaks my heart to think of all those in Africa starving and suffering from disease and contrast it to the life I am able to live.

SO, this week myself and a friend are going to eat only plain rice and drink only water for 7 days. Hopefully this will be an eye opener to us and make us realise some new truths but also I want this to open your eyes and make you realise that what is happening in Africa is not OK, it isn't how the world should be and we can't just sit back and accept it as how things go.

I have been given a heart for the suppressed, the forgotten and I need to take action. Because I am just a university student I feel powerless in terms of how much time I have (and money)... So to take action for me is to essentially go hungry and get some sponsorship so that I can then pass that money onto UNICEF which will contribute to getting aid into the most drought ridden, starved areas.

I am going to blog on my progress and thoughts throughout the week for those who want to follow!!

-Be the change you wish to see in the world!-