AdamLewis

For the last seven days I have drank nothing but water and its not been easy! I neglected the quality of my work by declining performance enhancing caffeine and rejected inflated priced alcohol at the football match on Saturday (the mighty fixture of Doncaster Rovers vs Millwall). But now its over and I have certainly taken advantage of the relaxed restraints.

Luckily for me I had the temptations of colleagues, friends, family and the benefits of globalisation. For others drinking clean water alone is a luxury they struggle to acheive every day. Hopefully the efforts of last weeks poverty challengers has raised awareness on the plethora of issues affecting the global poor every day. The poverty challenge ends for us today but continues for millions across the globe. The suffering won't end until we make a conscious decision to do so, at home, at school or in Cancun in December.

My fellow followers. The allegations are true. I, Adam Lewis, do not drink tea and did sabotage Tristan Humphreys' cuppa with chocolate cornflakes. Perhaps this was a result of his own poverty challenge, allowing others to make decisions for him, or maybe I'm getting bitter at the smorgasbord of drinks available to my counterpart.

So far so good with the h2o, although temptation has been there I've gone strong for another day with only a few more to go. Unfortunately for the residents of Yemen capital Sana'a they have less than seven years until their water supplies run out. Growing urban population puts a strain on natural resources and basic services such as water. In response to the recent terror threats, International Development minister, Alan Duncan, warned on Monday we must help Yemen before its "too late". Seven years, Mr Duncan. Start the clock.

I think I've done pretty well here. My daily dose of Weetabix has remained at four. Showers and internet have been ringfenced. As for tea, fizzy drinks, smoothies and alcohol, in fact anything thats not water, have all been slashed in this weeks beverage cuts. This week the only thing I will drink is water.

The fact that this is even considered a 'challenge' exposes how lucky we are to have access to clean, safe water when over a billion do not. It is a challenge for Kalsun and Abdul in Bangladesh who risk arsenic poisoning from the water they collect everyday at local wells. It is a challenge for women and children in Africa to walk up to ten miles a day for water.

Like my chocolate and Facebook stalking, the international aid budget has been ringfenced by the coalition government. This is a great move we should all applaud, but it needs to be directed to overcoming global poverty. Redefining international aid to incorporate 'security' or national interests undermines the progress already made.

As for tomorrow's challenge, here's a few of the things I won't be doing. I won't sooth my aching throat with a hot vimto. I won't be exploiting the 'free refills' offered at Barburrito. I won't enjoy the match with an ice cold cider, watching the condensation drip down my glass to form circles of water on the table... this isn't going to be that easy is it? 

This week I'm only going to drink water.

I have studied poverty and devlopment with a special focus on Haiti - and with the recent earthquakes there this is a country that means a lot to me when I come to think about poverty. Climate change is putting island nations like Haiti even more at risk and I believe water is something we don't appreciate enough in the UK

I live in Bury and I'm asking my MP David Nuttall to respond to my challenge ... Follow my blog to see how I get on and if he responds!