This week, hundreds of Opportunity International staff, supporters and friends are participating in the Live Below the Line challenge - a challenge to eat and drink on less than $1.50 a day for five days in honor of the 1.2 billion people who live below the extreme poverty line every day. We are excited to celebrate a few of our LBL participants and their insights from the week.
Why I'm Trying Not to Cheat by Samantha Snabes
Whelp, here it goes. My third year living below the line. Even as I type it I can’t believe how quickly the years slipped past and how much I still struggle at consuming less than $1.50 for a measly 5 days. It all began in 2013, the year that I went on a series of visits to Nicaragua with Opportunity International as well as the annual Summit. It was a year of introspection as the Social Entrepreneur in Residence for the NASA Open Government Initiative as a volunteer for Opportunity. I thought a lot that year about the blessings overlooked on a daily basis by gringos like myself. For this reason, it seemed only fitting to live, er fast, for a week in consideration of the extreme poverty faced by so many around the world. It wasn’t easy and shamefully, on a date one evening, I gave in to a 3 course meal, rationalizing that I was just being “considerate”. The remainder of the week I kept my commitment, and justified the slip up by not eating for the next two days to “make-up” for my reason.
Whelp, here it goes.My third year living below the line. Even as I type it I can’t believe how quickly the years slipped past and how much I still struggle at consuming less than $1.50 for a measly 5 days . It all began in 2013, the year that I went on a series of visits to Nicaragua with Opportunity International as well as the annual Summit. It was a year of introspection as the Social Entrepreneur in Residence for he NASA Open Government Initiative as a volunteer for Opportunity. I thought a lot that year about the blessings overlooked on a daily basis by gringos like myself. For this reason, it seemed only fitting to live, er fast, for a week in consideration of the extreme poverty faced by so many around the world It wasn’t easy and shamefully, one a date one evening I gave in to a 3 course meal, rationalizing that i was just be “considerate”. The remainder of the week I kept my commitment, and justified the slip up by not eating for the next two days to “make-up” for my reason. The following year I attempted to live below the line honestly. A veteran of the experience, I planned ahead. The day before I ate a huge meal, throughout the week I drank copious amounts of water to fill my belly. I shopped at the dollar store and used value coupons to maximize my stockpile that I could divide out over the week. Sure, managed to budget as I had vowed, but I was left with a nagging feeling- had a really lived Below the Line? I mean, seriously, how many people have the luxury to consumer 2000 calories before facing a food shortage. How many can come liters of clean water in hopes of staving stomach pains? And dollar stores- how accessible is an equivalent abroad? With this eating (no pun intended) at my conscious, I took the pledge again. Not just because I believe in the perspective it imparts on so many including myself, but to try a little more than last time to fully appreciate hunger experienced by persons encountering extreme poverty. Let’s be honest, I’ll still be quite a bit away from the harsh realities faced by others as I sleep in my comfy bed or a hotel each night after taking a shower and putting on my new PJs. My only hope is that this year I’ll be a little more honest in my effort to appreciate the inequality encountered by too many. - See more at: https://www.livebelowtheline.com/blogs/30487?lang=en#sthash.ZTG9HimI.dpuf
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