It’s a wrap!

I have now been eating normally for 5 days, and whilst the variety of flavours I’m now able to taste is wonderful, I can’t help but think how extravagant Western eating patterns and habits are! Before I do a final reflection on the lessons I learnt from the week of living below the line, I thought I should give a quick update about my experiences on the Thursday and Friday as I didn’t get a chance to blog!
Thursday was spent at university, and proved another harsh reminder of how difficult it is to learn when your stomach feels empty! Although I had my usual breakfast of oats that filled me up, my brain and body felt lifeless, and I struggled to find the energy to stay attentive in my four hours of tutorials and lectures. Like the day before, it was a reminder of the many children who attend schools, not only hungry for knowledge but sadly hungry for food as well.

As soon as class finished, I looked forward to heading home for a sleep because I just lacked any energy to concentrate and even hold conversations with people! After my wonderful nap I prepared a dinner of roast potatoes and carrots which I enjoyed, but felt sick before finishing all of my plate. I longed for Saturday when I could eat different and GREEN vegetables (and some longed for fruit as well!)
Friday was spent at my weekly internship at an NGO (International Nepal Fellowship – will do a post on this organisation in the next week!) which was encouraging, because it reminded of why I’m living below the line. Sometimes we can get so caught up in a cause and campaign that we forget there are real people with real stories behind the campaign, and spending the day reading through reports and personal stories about aid in Nepal at my internship, just reminded me about the 1.4 billion people I’m doing this for!!! Interestingly, the World Food Programme have recently pulled out significantly from Nepal, which is going to have a big impact on the health and nutrition on Nepali people – it again hit home just how blessed I am to have food (and a variety of food too!) and knowledge about nutrition and health, and not to mention clean drinking water!!!
Now I’m back to eating interesting food, and also eating lunches, but every time I eat, it serves as a reminder of the few bowls of rice, pasta and soup I consumed last week, and the people we’re still fighting for.

The Oaktree Foundation has raised a HUGE $1.275 MILLION DOLLARS for our education projects in Cambodia, Papua New Guinea and East Timor. I cannot wait till I leave for my month in East Timor to check out these projects and can report back to you about the invaluable ways your money is impacting the lives of the Timorese.
If you haven’t donated yet because you were waiting to see if I could complete the challenge – please donate now! I successfully lasted 5 days on just $2 a day, but there’s another 1.4 billion people out there, still surviving on this amount. A donation of any size would be more than appreciated  🙂