As a child I remember not wanting to eat my dinner and being told about all the people around the world who’d be grateful for a plate of food like that. I think I got a fair amount of trouble for answering “well send it to them then”. It didn’t really mean anything – the kind of poverty where someone would be grateful for my brussels sprouts wasn’t something I could grasp – and still can’t, really.
That’s one reason why this year we’re going to try living below the line.
The line in question is the extreme poverty line – or £1/day. That’s what 1.2 billion people have every day, all year round, to cover housing education, health care – and food. The Live Below the Line challenge encourages us to eat and drink for £1 a day for five days, as a way of raising money and our awareness. Between 27th April and 1st May thousands of people around the world will be taking it.
There are official, well-known charities that you can support, but a few of us are going to be doing it to support Tumaini: the money we save (and anything else others wish to donate) will go to the home to ensure that the boys continue to receive nourishing food every day.
Even before we’ve started there have been some interesting negotiations with the children about their participation – porridge without milk is absolutely inconceivable, so we’re going to have to make sure we budget for milk!
If you’d like to find out more about the Challenge, there’s information (and recipes!) at www.livebelowtheline.com/uk. It’d be fantastic if you’d like to take the challenge, or sponsor us as we do it.
Friends of Tumaini 