Day 26: Enough Food IF - Aid

Day 26: Saturday 26th January 2013

Saturday's Menu:
Breakfast: Porridge with water, frozen fruit and 1 tsp of sugar
Lunch: Home made soup and 1/3 tin of peaches
Dinner: Small portion of chickpea curry and rice
Snack: Half a bowl of porridge

The last few days have been fantastic. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and everyday I am getting closer to completing the challenge. My friends have been ridiculously encouraging and this has spurred me on to storm the final few days. Its amazing how lucky this month has made me feel. I don't think I have ever appreciated how ridiculously blessed I am to have been born into a life where I don't need to worry about simple things like food or shelter. This month has been a massive challenge for me, but I  haven't come close to experiencing what true poverty is like. I haven't felt the excruciating level of hunger and suffering that 1.4 billion people worldwide feel everyday. I get to finish this challenge in a weeks time, 1.4 billion people may never see the end of their suffering. Well they won't if we do nothing about it. 

Here are a few facts for you...

With food prices at their highest in decades, poor families in developing countries often spend as much as three quarters of their income on food. 

1/4 children in the developing world are underweight.

The number of people who were undernourished in 2008 may be as high as 915 million and exceeded one billion in 2009.

It is estimated that by 2025 nearly a billion young people over the world will face poverty because of the damage done to them now through hunger and malnutrition.

It is estimated that some countries lose 2 - 3% of their potential GDP because of under-nutrition.

It is such a vicious cycle. Poverty leads to worsened poverty. How can people get out without our help.  Yesterday I spoke about the new campaign that Tearfund have recently launched in coalition with over 100 other charities. 'Enough Food IF'. A campaign that is striving to lead the fight against world hunger, urging our government to take action and keep its promises, putting the UK at the forefront of battle.

As I mentioned yesterday our leaders need to tackle the four biggest issues that contribute towards global hunger. Today I am going to talk about the first issue, Aid. 

'There would be Enough Food For Everyone IF we give life-saving aid to stop children dying from hunger and help the poorest families feed themselves'

Aid is a crucial step in the fight against world hunger. Aid enables us to change the lives of millions, and stop the effects of malnutrition and poverty before it causes permenat damage.  At the moment UK aid and projects funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) help to prevent an estimated 10 million children from going hungry.  In September 2011 DFID announced that they will be expanding their nutrition-related programmes to help reach 20 million children under the age of 5. This is brilliant but more can, and needs, to be done. 

The UK government have pledged to give 0.7% of its income to international aid. We could see an end to hunger IF the government keeps this promise. We could see an end to hunger IF we unite and ensure they take action. We could see the end to hunger IF we let our voices be heard and speak out on behalf of the millions who can't speak up for themselves. Join the campaign today and help the fight against global hunger... http://enoughfoodif.org/.

If you would like to sponsor me for this month's challenge please click here to be taken straight to my just giving page. The money will help Tearfund to fund its global projects fight hunger, poverty and injustice.