Mariam living below the line: Day 2

Having lunch, still smiling - its only the second day!

Two days down, three to go. I woke up this morning not feeling great and not particularly energized.  This is probably due to the fact that I went to bed hungry and with a headache, most likely caused by a lack of sugar, and thinking that sleep would make me feel better. But it didn’t and I ended up having to wake up to have a toast and half a banana. Tonight I didn’t make the same mistake and had a nice and filling meal that made me feel good physically and psychologically. My dinner consisted in brown rice (again), a carrot and half a can of baked beans. I really enjoyed the sweet taste I got from the baked beans.I didn’t feel particularly hungry during the day as work kept my mind busy. However I felt tired the whole day, probably because I am used to having a little snack in the morning and the afternoon. Today I felt less disconnected from the outside world as I spent my time mostly with my work colleagues who understand the meaning and difficulties of the challenge as they will be taking part in the experience in early May. Remember yesterday when I was writing about feeling like an outsider having my veg and rice with my friends in a café on Oxford Street, well this really made me think. I realised how disconnected I am  from the issue of extreme poverty despite working in the charity sector. I think we would all agree to say that we could not even begin to imagine what our life would be if we didn’t have the freedom to go out for a drink with our friends, ride the underground to go shopping, go to the grocery store if we don’t have any more milk or orange juice, make a phone call or go to the bank. It’s only been two days since I started living on £1 a day and this exclusively covers my food and drinks but, I already feel trapped.

I really think this experience has already opened my eyes and made me realise how fundamental the work of organisations such as RESULTS UK, is for raising awareness of extreme poverty, an issue we all hear about but that we don’t truly comprehend.

RESULTS UK is the organisation I decided to fundraise for. It is an international advocacy organisation that empowers ordinary citizens like you and me to bring about change in international politics. RESULTS works on several areas including global health, maternal health, TB/HIV co-infection and microfinance. Since I have been involved with RESULTS, I went twice to Parliament to lobby my MP, I attended a couple of meetings with MPs and the Undersecretary of State for International Development, Stephen O’Brien as well as the Secretary of State for International Development, Andrew Mitchell. I also gained broader exposure to many different areas of International Development including the global threat TB poses and the lack of consideration for this airborne disease that kills  about 2 million people every year. If you would like more information on RESULTS, I would recommend you to have a look at their website www.results.org.uk.

All support is greatly appreciated and if you would like to sponsor me please visit my page.

Many thanks!