And so it begins...

For the month of January I  have decided to take on the challenge of living below the poverty line, in a hope to raise money for one of my favorite charities, Tearfund.  Tearfund is an incredible charity working in more than 50 countries worldwide, responding to disasters, campaigning for justice and partnering with local churches to support local communities.

A couple of people suggested that I should write a blog over the up coming month to follow my attempt at living below the line. So here goes....

Why this challenge? 

My friend Elspeth and I have recently been chosen to participate on the International Citizen Service (ICS) scheme.  This is a fantastic opportunity for volunteers, like us, to help some of the poorest people in the world and learn valuable new skills at the same time.  Sponsored by the government  it’s a program that brings young people from different countries together to fight poverty. 

We will be volunteering for Tearfund in one of their targeted countries for 10 weeks in April. During this time we will be living with local families and working in a community on various projects supported by the charity. As part of my commitment to the program I have pledged to raise £1500 for Tearfund. At this point I want to make it clear that any money I raise will NOT be going towards the payment of my trip, but will go straight to Tearfund and their humanitarian projects. 

At first I had no idea where to start, how was I going to raise this money? Being sponsored to do something challenging seemed the natural first step - but what to do? I wanted to do something that would really challenge me and also make me appreciate how lucky I am to have all that I have. Not only this I  wanted to do something that was worthy of people digging deep and donating money to such a fantastic cause. 

The challenge of living below the poverty line seemed perfect. Spending only a £1 a day on food and drink in our society is by no means an easy task. Like most people I love love love my food, and so restricting myself to a £1s worth a day for a whole month, is definitely the challenge I was looking for.

I will hopefully never experience what it feels like to be really, truly hungry, but, this will be a great opportunity to raise some money and to appreciate what it’s like to survive on the bare minimum. 

If you would like to sponsor me for this month please click here. 

Monday, 30th December 2012

I decided to do 7 days worth of shopping to begin with. That allowed £7 to get me through to next Monday. The shopping bit was no challenge at all. University definitely equipped me for spotting a good bargain and so I excitedly ran around Tesco trying to find the best deals. I immediately realized my budget meant the menu for the week would be far from diverse, with rice and porridge being the back bone of most meals. Here is what I got for my money... 

Week 1's menu

My favorite purchases were the instant custard - ONLY 7p and the Tesco strawberry whip - ONLY 10p!!! If I halve the packs the pudding for 4 days WOOOOOO. 

This is definitly going to be interesting - let the challenge begin!