KathrynEllis

This week we were interviewed by Emma Wass from Sheffield Live radio station (93.2) on her communities live show. We chatted about the poverty challenge and how it affected us. Hopefully another key way to raise awareness amongst listeners.

To listen to the interview go to:

http://www.sheffieldlive.org/podcast/index.php?page=2

It's 

Communities Live 10-11-2010 at 12:00

and it's about 30 minutes into the program.

You can also read Emma's blog at:

http://nowsheffield.blogspot.com/

Well we all made it! Congratulations to all those who took part, read the blogs, or had to hear all about the challenge face to face.

It's been an interesting week...

What I found hard:

*Waking up in the dark and having to feel around for a lighter to light the candle while I wanted to go back to sleep

How do people manage without electricity?

*Getting to and from school without using my car (cycled 1 day, bus 1 and a 1/2 days, lifts 2 days, ran home once).

How do people without a car afford the bus?

*Eating boring food and getting cravings for tasty food

Would we still get these cravings if we'd have been brought up on rice and beans?

*Not having time in the power hour to get everything done

What do people do in places where electricity is rationed?

What I have learned:

* That even if you don't have electricity, there is still an expectation to do the same amount of work, cook dinner, and have a shower. I'm meant to be training, I haven't run once. I thought it would be lovely to get home, chill out by candlelight. That didn't happen, it was rush rush rush then sleep.

* That buses in the UK are very expensive and it probably works out cheaper to drive, even though I know it is terribly bad for the environment. I plan to car share more and ride/run once a week.

* That poverty is tough. No-one should have to live without electricity, without enough food to eat, without clean water, without shelter, without rights. Poverty is unfair. It is unjust. This week has reminded me how comfortable our lives are. We have everything we need, everything we want. We don't have to think about survival. Our little brains worry about work and friends and things we take for granted. We would be lost if they were taken away.

I've done this challenge at school and it has been very rewarding to see the response of the children. I hope through this week many people will have been challenged to do something about poverty, to realise how lucky we are and just how tough poverty is.

http://povertychallenge.21publish.com/DorePrimarySchool

Today I got the bus to and from school. It cost me nearly £5. Probably similar to our food budget for the whole week! How can someone living in poverty be expected to get the bus in the UK?

One of my pledges was to go carless. I live about 6 miles from work. So i've ridden to work, which was ok, although up hill all the way and not exactly the quietest of routes. I've got lifts a couple of times with a teacher who lives near me and is so kind to come and pick me up. But I thought I ought to give the bus a try.

Yes it may be more environmentally-friendly but its not economically-friendly. Plus the rain doesn't help.

So what would you do if you couldn't afford a car? Could you really afford a bus pass? It costs over £700 for a years bus pass in Sheffield, which is cheaper than paying nearly £5 a day but surely more expensive than driving. I have to say I am not convinced it is the way forward.

The most obvious choice would be a free one, i.e. cycling or walking or running. But in this weather? Really?

It's day 3 of eating porridge made with water - yuk! I confess we have had some stewed apple to lessen the pain the last 2 days (apples donated from my mum's garden so cost nothing!) but I have to say it is the yukiest food ever. All gloopey and stodgy. Do people really live off food like this?

No I don't want anymore thank you!

For lunch I have had cheap and cheerful white bread that sticks to the top of your mouth as you eat it....filled with 'plastic cheese' which really does taste of nothing.

Dinner has mainly been rice and beans with a few vegetables that were going off.

I seem to have a constant mild hunger, although work does distract me. Tonight I finished dinner and had eaten enough, yet I still felt unsatisfied, like I was missing something. The chocolate cravings have started, or maybe just cravings for something different to eat.

People in Philippine slums usually eat a massive mound of rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner, often with little else. I wonder how they can bear it, how they don't get sick of all that rice. We're so lucky here to have the choice of rice, bread, potato, pasta, pizza, English food, American food, Italian food, Indian food, Chinese food, Thai food, the list goes on. We're so spoilt for choice.

People in West Africa are suffering from two years of famine, some are struggling to survive on what they can find in the wild.

Whereas we in the West are throwing vast amounts of food away as waste.

Where is the fairness in that?

As day 2 draws to a close I have been sitting in my lounge, covered in a double duvet, knitting to candlelight. There's been something quite serene about it. No noise apart from the howling gale outside. No artificialness. Peace.

Conversations I've had today have included a stilt village in Ghana, probably something like this:

They have no electricity, and yet are still up until the early hours just hanging around chatting with friends. It got me thinking. I come home from work at a loss, what is there to do which doesn't require electricity? And yet this is the reality for some people everyday. And what do they do? They don't come home from work and sit in silence, knitting and wondering if there could be a way to spend my time better. No, life goes on, life is what you make of it. If you don't have electricity, the world doesn't stop, life is just very different from what we have come to expect here in the West. We talked about the black-outs in Sheffield after the floods, 3 hours at a time so the fridge was ok. People didn't mope around, wondering what to do. We lit those candles and actually had a fun time.

Do you think you could live in a world without electricity?