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

Helen - 
So I found yesterday quite difficult....sat in the living room with my hmates watching a film and they all had choccies or biscuits! It was really hard not to have a sneaky bit of chocolate, I have such a sweet tooth and I'm finding it quite difficult now. In order to stop myself from cheating I had to eat some dry cereal so at least I was munching on something. This has definitely made me appreciate what I have and think of those less fortunate who will probably never get to eat chocolate. I also feel pathetic compared to my peers who are living off a £1 a day and I'm here complaining about luxuries!! So I will shut up and see it through to the end. xx

Hannah-

Ok...so i've hit day three. not gonna lie am feeling the effects of the pound-a-day now.  i can't even begin to imagine what this feels like everyday of every month of every year of someone's life.  

I'm tired, i'm grumpy and incredibly unproductive. BUT i have also learnt a lot more about myself and the effects my choices have everyday.  We live in a globally interconnected world and everyday I have the choice to make an effective vote in the market place with the products i choose which have the ability to shape the society i want to live in and the option to give people across the world a better life.  I haven't been able to buy Fairtrade produce this week and since writing my dissertation on it and really engaging with the topic I found it a bit of a struggle.  Buying market value products however has made me question what the producer is making back from these? what conditions do these workers live in if this product can be advertised so cheaply?  

  Walking round the supermarket looking for something filling to buy with a pound is no easy task in our society, but what about the mum who lives on less than this with her 5 children to feed, 5 miles to walk to get clean water and a whole days work to earn that wage. how does she keep going?  the meaning of poverty to me is beginning to force questions in my head about it's meaning.

it's so much more than not having money... it's not having the means to provide for your family, the means to provide for yourself and the ability or option to change your circumstances, it takes away your free choice (something i take for granted in my life)- you are constrained in a world which is bounded and limiting... and yet there are stories of these women in these circumstances who do amazing things....  they set up co-operatives within their villages, forming businesses and working with what they've got.  whilst i felt sorry for myself feeling hungry and trying to sleep it off these women are actively utilising everything they have to not only help each other but to making their living the best experience they can.  

so maybe i need to get out of bed and have a bit of a reality check. i have 100 times more and am challenged 100 times less, and the sad thing is that caring at a distance cuts no ice. we need to DO something, we need to make something happen. the worlds problems are our problems too. so why don't we act on it?!

x

ps. watched Blood Diamond the other night- i know unrelated to my post but found it incredibly moving.  Those of you who haven't seen it it's well worth the watch!!

Mary- 
Ohhh so the day after the first night was a struggle- soo tired and soo much work to do! I have to admitt I was not feeling well that day and even told Maya I might not even make it but then I stopped myself and thought "come on Mary, this is a tiny anount of pain you have to go through, and it doesn't even come close to anything that that other 21 year old women has to endure everyday of her life, the other side of the world." So I got in the tent and got on with it! I have to say i'm enjoying this challenge, every night seems to be a new experience!

Charlie-

Managed to go as a vegetarian so far (challenge to give up meat and fish for the week which i love)... .Helped by 2 for 1 on innocent vegpots and covent garden soups.... Missing fish but not meat, enjoying the challenge!

Maya -

Night two in the tent! After waking up yesterday morning and scrambeling out of the tent in the rain, I was happy we had compleeted the first night and pleased that we saw it through even if we didn't get the best sleep! However last night I can't say I was really looking forward to sleeping in mary's garden again, especially when my housemates and hers were all getting ready to go to their beds! But like so many people we didn't have a choice, and so we put on our jumpers and headed to the tent! It was colder than the night before but I was also far more tired so i settled down fairly quickly... I think I got a fair amount of sleep but kept waking up every so often to try and get comfy. Although it is a bit of a pain having to get into the tent everynight I think the hardest bit is really the comfort, (even though we have tried to accomidate for this a bit with pillows and a good sleeping bag) I am so used to having a big comfy mattress and a warm room everynight that sleeping on the ground isnt that appealing in febuary and not on holiday. Especially when we know everyone around us are getting to sleep indoors in comfort. I guess this is what many people living in poverty in shanty towns, or without housing at all have to deal with - they know that so many people around the world get the chance to sleep well in a house everynight but they do not have this option, not without help. Our situation is on a compleetly different scale but it does make you think....

Alex -

Hi all sorry for not writing sooner! For my challenge I've decided to give up sweet things for the week - this includes chocolate, biscuits, desserts, fizzy drinks etc. This is not the most challenging thing I could of done but I am saving the £5 challenge for after exams as I cannot concentrate when I'm hungry! However, I do eat a lot of sweet things, usually chocolate everyday so just by cutting out something I eat so often will hopefully help me realise that I take these things for granted so easily!

So far so good I have managed to refrain from buying any sugary treats, however the last two nights people have given me cakes - ahhh disaster!? I think not! Unaware of the Oxfam challenge these people gave me the cakes out of the goodness of their hearts, reinforcing the realisation that people often don't need a reason to do something 'good' for somebody - it's a more a natural tendency to give!  But why stop at giving to just friends? I then wondered why we are all so so happy to give to friends/family but not to those who need us most...

Jess-

Sorry I haven't written sooner, this is the 3rd time trying to write a post...yes I am clueless when it comes to technology. So I thought a £1 a day would be difficult wth 3rd year being so busy n me need my brain food. so I decided to set myself a personal challenge: no hot water, and limiting my usage of water. The first shower (even though it was on level 1/2 because our english water is freeeeezing!!) Was sliiiightly chilly. It shows how easy it is for us to take something as simple as hot, clean, unlimited water, for granted. Or a quick walk to one of the many taps in your house for a glass of water. I guess I forget how lucky I am xx

Helen-
So today has gone okay. I nearly went onto facebook accidentally as I'm so used to just opening up my browser and going straight onto fb to see what people are up to. It's also really difficult when your housemates are looking at fb on their laptops and you have to resist peering over their shoulders.

Exciting update!!

Flora:
I know I already posted today but I am just too excited about this!! On my walk this morning I walked past Boots and saw this in the window...

 and next to it was this sign....

So I've just come back and had a look online and found out that Tous perfume is donating an amazing 15 liters of drinking water to someone in the 3rd world for every bottle sold! This is such an incredible thing and I am so proud that Oxfam is able to inspire change like this! 

Here's what it says on the Tous website... (I'd like to add it smells amazing too! Definitely a great gift idea for someone- or for yourself!) 

TOUS H2O is a brand new thought-provoking Eco-Chic perfume set to inspire the fragrance world.

Proudly supporting Oxfam, TOUS has formed a relationship set to transform the lives of an estimated 450,000 people in developing countries, for every bottle of TOUS H2O sold it is estimated that 15 litres of drinking water will be made accessible to someone in a developing country, enough for ten days.

Half Way Point!

Flora- 
Good morning! Today I'm starting off a bit early because yesterday I left a lot of the distance I have to walk everyday until the evening... this wasn't a good plan! I was on campus from 10am to 6pm and when I got home the last thing I wanted to do was venture into the cold darkness! It got me thinking- for me this is was a choice, but for so many people around the world, it isn't. Last night, I turned the tap on to fill up my water bottle and I realized that this was not a regularly thing a lot of people are able to do. From the globalissues.org website I discovered that: Access to piped water into the household averages about 85% for the wealthiest 20% of the population, compared with 25% for the poorest 20%. I cannot imagine walking miles and miles everyday to water, yet so many people could not imagine just turning on a tap. I am so glad that Oxfam Society is doing this Poverty Week, it is not about trying to "live" in poverty, as obviously none of us are experiencing even close to what poverty must feel like, but I believe it is making us all think hard about what we have in our lives. Good luck for today everyone! We can do it! xx

Katie-

So day two seems to have gone fairly ok, walking onto campus today in the pouring rain was an effort and I was tempted to use my car but I didn't cave and actually the fresh air and exercise did me good I think. I have really been limiting my water usage and had a two minute shower this morning and didn't wash my hair! Going to save that until things get really desperate (I'm fairly sure most of my housemates think things have already gone past desperate, but never mind!). Cooking is proving more difficult, but found an ingenious way to cook veg/potatoes I only used one lot of boiling water and drained it into a saucepan once the potatoes were cooked for the veg. It does make you think though, that not having an unlimited supply of water makes you so much more careful and you do have to come up with ways to work around it.

Mary-
 Well that was a weird experience! It definitely wasn't as cold as I thought it might have been because we had soo many layers on- not forgetting the hot water bottles (a luxery by third world standards). I didn't get to sleep until about 4 in the morning because of the noises. This did make me think though.... here i was in this tent in a very safe area but I was getting frightened that someone might come and attack us or something! Yet millions of people live in shanty towns all over the world, in far more dangerous places with no kind of security- I can't even begin to comprehend how mothers feel in the middle of night with their children tucket up in bed. I wonder what thoughts I will have tonight.....

-Emily-
So I've been living off just Soup and Water for two days now... to try to understand just an ounce it what it may feel like restricting myself, and actually feeling hungry (which i rarely feel!) I succeeded in persuading my housemate to do it with me, so we've got each other to compare hunger levels with and to stop each other from just reaching that cookie that another housemate helpfully 'left out for us!'

The first day, Monday, was very difficult, which I think was partially just the shock of not being allowed to just eat what I wanted, when I wanted. I found I couldn't stop thinking about food, everything around me suddenly seemed so much more appealing and irresistible. It was also quite interesting to see how our minds work when doing this: Even though I wasn't actually hungry as I'd eaten about 3 different bowls of soup, I still thought that I SHOULD be hungry, which then made me hungry. But in terms of the purpose of Poverty Week, it's certainly made me realise what it must feel like to just not be able to eat what you suddenly feel like eating.....and I'm glad I decided to do this to actually experience this!

So Tuesday, I woke up feeling quite hungry but I've actually had a really enjoyable day surprisingly, I enjoyed actually spending time chopping up the veggies, getting the blender out, and making a nice big soup for the day, and I felt determined to not feel as sorry for myself and pathetic as I did yesterday!

I spent a long time on campus working and as all I can eat is soup, I couldn't take any with me to uni for the day, which was another really good test for me: to be able to study, concentrate and just get on with my life whilst ignoring my hunger pains! I actually found myself feeling liberated after a while, in that my life was not dictated by food which unfortunately I think a lot of us in this country experience. Today I've really realised that we do (or at least I do), eat so much more than is actually necessary, and when I finally got home to my dinner soup, I'd never appreciated soup so much in my life before!

I've definitely learned at least a portion of what it must be like to actually have a restricted diet, which is really shocking considering I'm still able to eat three times a day and drink clean water all day.....so How do they do it!?? And how can we as a nation get away with such mass consumption of food whilst so many others are starving, near to death, across the world!?

Roll on Day 3 I say! (unless I've fainted by then.....!)

Hannah-  

So far eaten donations today of breadsticks (yum) and a banana...managed to do a little work and feel fine but admittedly a little drowsy...amazing how sleepy I'm feeling at the moment!  It's made me really think about the fact I'm so lucky to have the resources to buy what I want usually and also making me feel frustrated that people in the third world have to actively live and work all day (to feed their families!) despite being malnourished.  They don't have the luxury or option of an afternoon nap when their feeling hungry. 

Was doing a bit of reading earlier from UNICEF:

"Nearly one in four people, 1.3 billion - a majority of humanity - live on less than $1 per day, while the world's 358 billionaires have assets exceeding the combined annual incomes of countries with 45 percent of the world's people."

Grr man the worlds unfair!!!...being hungry and on a sugar-low also = me feeling more fractious about how we have SO much and give SO little!

Becoming increasing frustrated that we don't do more.  We have these facts and figures at our finger tips WHY can't the government pass more legislation to help the third world and why are we not pushing harder to make them legislate?!  We have a voice why don't we use it?

Every 3.6 seconds someone dies of hunger whilst in the western world we indulge in fast food, meals out, daily coffees, lunches, sweet treats. Fair?...No.  

Spending a lot of time thinking when i guess I'd usually be eating.(sigh)  If there's one conclusion I've come to so far it's that my sacrifice for these 5 days is nothing compared to what people in the third world sacrifice everyday of their lives.  

"The World Health Organization estimates that one-third of the world is well-fed, one-third is under-fed one-third is starving- Since you've read this post at least 200 people have died of starvation. Over 4 million will die this year."

I'd like to think when i reach for that 50p bar of galaxy next week I'll think more about what it means to have that privilege and more what that money could do to better serve others then for my own means.

x

Maya -
 So night 1 in the tent compleeted! It wasn't looking that promising when we got ready for bed and then had to go out into the garden in the rain to settle down! It was pretty uncomfortable to be honest, as we expected but I was quite snug due to hot water bottles mary managed to collect off her housemates. It took a pretty long time to sleep as it was very noisy, and very wierd that you don't know what the noises were...a little spooky at times. We woke up at 7.30 in the end because of the light, but managed to drop off for another hour even though the rain was hammering down which was good! I would quite like to sleep in my bed tonight, but we are determined to see this one through!!

Katie - 
So I have decided to set myself three different challenges and see which is the most difficult. I am going to attempt to give up Facebook, my car and limit my use of water. So I have already failed miserably at giving up Facebook, but on reflection perhaps this is not such a bad thing? I would rather be able to talk to my friends and wish people Happy Birthday than use material things like my car. But I suppose it is only day one and by tomorrow I could be really struggling with the concept of having short, luke-warm showers! Giving up my car hasn't proved too challenging yet, but I haven't had to walk to campus in the pouring rain carrying all my books so when I do, it could be a different story! We will see what tomorrow brings :-)

And DAY TWO begins...

Flora-

I think first day of Poverty Week started off great- we handed out roses to people with the message that we all live in an increasingly inter-connected world and that love should not be bound into any boundaries! I think it was a really good way to start the week as this week is all about showing how lucky we are to live where we do, but we could just as easily live a completely different life. For my challenge this week I am walking an extra 3 miles every day (about 5km) on top of what I would walk regularly. After researching, I found out that 3 miles is the distance some people have to walk to get clean water (many walk much further than this). Yesterday, wearing my iPod that has a pedometer on it, I managed to hit my target. Although, I was a bit under by a mile by 8pm and my boyfriend and I decided to walk to the restaurant (that we would normally get a taxi to) the walk was lovely but I wore heels and now have a big old blister for my silly shoe choice! Yesterday really got me thinking- what if I had to walk this distance not to go for dinner, or to run an errand, but because my family had no water? I felt very lucky that we are able to turn on a tap and have clean water. It's just so easy to take these things for granted. xxx