Genuine living below the line.

Live below the line is a campaign I have been involved in for a number of years- only spending $2 per day on food for 5 days to raise money and awareness for those living in poverty. However, now I have faces and names and characters and people I love to put next to the phrase 'those living in poverty'- pretty much all my students! I decided to conduct an experiment to see how I would survive on the local fare here in Kenya. For one week I committed to lining up with the students and only eating what is provided by the school- well below $2 per day worth!

Breakfast- cup of tea, 

Morning tea- cup of tea, 
Lunch- beans and maize, 
Supper- ugali and skuma (boiled kale) 
Except for Wednesdays in which morning tea also includes a mondazi (fried dough) and lunch is rice and beans and Sundays in which dinner includes a mondazi and rice- and a small piece of meat (which being vego I avoided anyway).

For those that aren't familiar with it, ugali is made from maize flour and water, its basically like a bland stodgy pudding bread, it is eaten with your bare hands and moulded to pinch up the skuma. It takes quite a bit of getting used to! Some students can afford to buy avocados, bananas, extra mondazis, peanuts etc but for those who don't have pocket money they simply cannot have these extras. 


Myself and Elise (who bravely took on the challenge as well!) decided to take the role of one of these 'poorest' students and not supplement our food. Western style foods and delicacies such as butter, chocolate, chips and biscuits are readily available in big supermarkets, however the majority of Kenyans simply cannot afford them, many can't even afford the basic fare that is provided at the school! We decided no extra snacks, added flavourings to our food, morning coffee or cuppas before bed...

So what did I learn after a week of eating like a student? 
I lost 2.3 kg over the week and I discovered that hunger is no fun. Its hard to be positive and energetic when you are hungry. Not having a proper breakfast makes it hard to concentrate and it is exhausting. Having the same food day in day out and no fresh fruit or veg is difficult to adapt to, picking out rotten bits of food, maggots and bugs from lunch is time-consuming and appetite reducing, watching others who have extra food and yummy snacks is a great cause of jealousy and it is easy to feel indignant.

We are currently working on setting up a breakfast program for the school- so we can provide a nutritious alternative to a cup of sugary tea for ALL the students. Fresh fruit, wholemeal bread, nutrition drink, eggs... For approximately $0.26 per student per day we can set this up. If you want to help these students then every cent really counts!! Go to www.agapeinaction.com/breakfast program to donate.