All over!

Flora: Well Poverty Week is now officially over!

Everyone did so well and tomorrow evening we are all meeting to discuss our experiences. I think it will be really great to hear what everyone thought and how we all found the week!

WIll update tomorrow with what what went on!

xxx

Maya - 

So last night was our last night in the tent... we had always planned 4 nights camping due to the fact Mary had a family event on the friday night of poverty week and the tent was in her garden! I am really happy we stuck it out, even when returning home from a night out on our final evening! I am also happy we did it because it really has made us think. As we settled down last night, (be it a bit easier because we were a little merry) we chatted for a long time about what this week has meant and how our expereinces really have opened our eyes to how people deal with poverty every day without any other options. Doing something like this shows you that we are so incredibly lucky to be born in our situations, and when little things that we take for granted are taken away from us it really does impact on us, even if it is as small as not eating a bar of chocolate exactly when you want one! Giving up some luxuaries in our lives money of which we could donate, or just taking time out to think about what we can do in our society to make someone elses life in poverty just that little bit more bareable doesnt really seem that hard, does it? There are so many people across the world but also in our country, city, streets who also face poverty and it just takes people like us to care and put effort in to try and help.

I think poverty week has been a real sucsess, not only for us as individuals to take a step back from our normal lives and really think about how unequal the world is, but also for other people. Our campaign has highlighted to others the aims of our society; to care about others less fortunate than ourselves, and hopefully, awarness and new support of Oxfam which will, in turn provide support to those who need it most.

Helen - 
So today is the last day! It's actually gone rather quick (which is good). Yesterday was hard as it was my housemates 21st birthday and we got her a chocolatey caterpillar cake....but I managed to restrain myself from eating any :) What's strange is that I'm really not missing facebook very much and I feel quite pathetic when I think about the amount of time I spend on it doing NOTHING!! It's just as easy to pick up the phone and call someone for a chat anyway. Looking back I wish I could have done something a bit more challenging but I am proud of what I and my fellow oxfam peeps have achieved this week :) xxx

Hannah-

"Another world is not only possible, she is on her way.  On a quiet day I can hear her breathing." (Fighting the banana wars- Harriet Lamb- brilliant book!)

Another world is possible but it needs people to stand up, have a voice and make a change.  The opportunity to take part in a poverty week has really opened my eyes to how small our challenges are in comparison to what others have to face throughout their lives in the third world.  We spent 5 days struggling with a lifestyle that is still 100 X more luxurious then anybody in the third world will ever get to experience. For me this has gone beyond just feeling hungry, and i acknowledge the support i've had- friends who have offered to cook me dinner..buy one get one free in the supermarket- are opportunities that are not realistic in the third world.  i don't think i can even begin to imagine how they get through everyday...  but what i can take from this is how i have felt during the week.  one word pretty much sums it up: guilty.  

guilty of having so much and others having so little, guilty of overlooking in my everyday life how actually having a choice is a luxury, guilty of not appreciating everything that i have or not taking the time to and guilty of the fact that 1 child will die every 5 seconds today, tomorrow, and on into the future because of poverty. 

i wonder how much longer we're going to keep ignoring this? what are we waiting for?  if theres one thing i'm actually sure of from this week it's that we have the ability to make some noise about this and get the government to do something- i mean what gives us the right to live without hunger and poverty when people across the world are suffering. 

this is a reality, we need to stop brushing it under the carpet and putting it 'out of sight out of mind'...i mean if starving Africa was on our doorstep- would people be more likely to step up and do something?..people don't want to see the reality but the fact is its going to keep getting worse and the divide between us and the third world will just continue to widen...

for any one who has read my posts firstly thank you...now please do one thing for me... ask yourself when your sat eating with plenty whether you think it's fair, maybe wonder what our world must look like through their eyes and then ask yourself whether your really going to sit there for another 3.6 seconds while someone else dies of hunger or whether your voice will join others and fight for a better world.

another thankyou so much to everyone who has taken part in poverty week, your stories and experiences have been inspiring and given me hope of the support that is needed to make a difference in this world. so proud.

x

(an interesting read:

http://cozay.com/)

LAST DAY!!

Flora: 
Well here it is! Day five! At the beginning of the week I am not sure any of us really knew what this week would be like- or what it would make us thing about! A big thank you to Hannah (Oxfam Soc President) who is the one who not only set up the society but has inspired the whole group to get motivated and excited! 

This is only a short post as I need to fit in my 5km quite quickly this morning! Might have to walk quickly! All I can think about is the fact that I am about to walk this distance having already had a cup of tea and glass of water- something so simple that I am really going to appreciate in the future.

Good luck for your last day everyone!! You can do it!

xx

Mary- 
so here is Maya and me last night! I was feeling optimistic last night about the night ahead.... maybe because i've been thinking about what we are actualy doing this for. The landlord came round today and asked why the heck there was a tent in the garden, and whether I was mad for staying in it for a whole week. But we're all mad really aren't we... we know there is so much injustice and inequality in the world but we're not doing anything about it- how MAD is that! going out tonight for a 21st so staying in the tent might be quite an experience!

Flora-
Yesterday I managed to get in a walk in the morning, but not all 5 km- which meant I had further to walk in the evening. After a busy day on campus walking all over the place I came home and felt exhausted! But because I am not including walking to campus or when I am on campus, I still had further to walk. I went out again in the evening and it was cold and dark and I was so glad I had someone with me to walk with. It can get quite lonely (and a bit scary!!) when walking on your own. It made me think that so many children have to walk to get water and often it is on their own, or through dangerous conditions. It definitely made me think hard about how my walking some more miles everyday paled in comparison to the everyday reality experienced by so many people worldwide. Today is going to be a bit of a struggle, but I am determined to get those extra 5km in! xxw