MillieBrown

So we've come to the end of the poverty challenge week, thank you for reading and commenting!

I can't pretend that this week has been anything like living in poverty, but it did raise interesting issues about all the small things we can all do to help raise awareness for poverty - I've had more conversations about poverty this week than I think ever before, so that can only be a good thing in terms of raising awareness.

As well as campaigning for Oxfam, I work part time as a conference and banqueting catering assistant at a couple of high-end hotels, theatres and restaurants around Manchester. Hence not finding the time to blog until now as weekends are obviously busy times. Whilst at work, I often find myself thinking about the stark inequality in the world. In late September this year, a slum in Delhi was demolished to avoid offending guests of the five-star hotel adjacent.

The indulgences, luxuries and decadence that some people enjoy seems disproportionately over the top when you're aware of what a struggle others have just to survive. The amount companies spend on corporate events would be laughable if it weren't for the fact that a tiny percentage of it could make such a difference elsewhere. This is why I think the Robin Hood Tax is such a good idea. Taxing financial institutions, many of which I have seen clearly have enough spare capital to wine and dine on what I can only assume they file as 'champagne expenses', would make little difference to an individual working for a bank (maybe Prosecco instead of Bollinger tonight). But it could make a huge difference to people living in poverty. It's not just about the money though. Talking to people about my poverty challenge gets mixed feedback. Some are interested and keen to engage in discussion about our unjust world. Others don't seem to care. 

I know I've strayed well off the topic of hot water now, but my experiences this week have been less interesting in terms of the challenge I undertook itself, and more so in relation to other people's reactions to the idea in general. In the words of S Club 7, to Bring It All Back to the original point of this blog: i miss tea, cold showers take all the enjoyment out of washing and thank god watching the x factor repeat will not involve the use of any hot water. Or I'd probably have to give up!

So as yet, still not braved the full-on cold shower. I'm a total pansy. Living without normal hygiene practices isn't quite where I thought this challenge would go.

Some 1.1 billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to water, and 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation. I can't pretend to even be able to imagine what that's like.

The World Bank estimates that due to the food, fuel and financial crises of the last couple of years, 100 million more people may remain without access to safe water by 2015. Can we let an economic crisis become an excuse for not meeting the Millenium Development Goal promises made to halve the 1990 poverty rate by 2015?

In other news...

BBC apologises for reports claiming Band Aid money was used to buy arms

convinced?

After a very long day of travel and work I began thinking my challenge might be a little too easily achievable. Washing myself with cold water and foregoing tea hasn't really been all that testing. Then I got home and realised the massive pile of laundry needed to start getting dented or I'd run out of clothes before the week was done.

Washing clothes with cold water in the sink is long. Getting in from work at 9, I have just spent an hour and a half rinsing and ringing. My fingers are wrinkly, my back aches from leaning over and I've turned the kitchen into a water park. The lack of a speed-drying function on the tap also means there is a bona fide lake emerging underneath the clothes horse in the living room. Washing machines are a godsend. Its ridiculous how much more convenient they are. I truly dont understand how anyone has time to do anything other than laundry without them. I suppose having far fewer clothes to wash in the first place might make some difference.

Increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events caused by global climate change affects people by destroying their homes and livelihoods. Vulnerable communities, who are unprepared for these events, can often be left with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Bangladesh is regularly fraught with storms and flooding, and without the means or knowledge to adapt to climate change, some people stand little chance of breaking free from the poverty cycle.  What would you like the government to do about global climate change?

On the plus side, at least all that housework has warmed me up enough to not mind the lack of heating.

Having realised that putting off washing wasn't going to be a popular decision for those around me and vanity finally calling, today I decided to wash my hair. With a jug of cold water over the sink. The idea of a full cold shower was a little too off-putting to take the plunge quite yet. Maybe tomorrow.

Whilst leaning ungainly over the sink I was reminded of the time I spent in a small village in Cameroon last year for a rural development NGO where running water was either sporadic or non-existent. Walking through the village in the morning many people would be out by the stream washing themselves, their clothes and children. Whilst this seemed partly like a social event, what struck me was the lack of privacy, something I really take for granted. Privacy, especially for women, can be a serious issue for those living in poverty. Even more so following a natural disaster or during conflict. In situations where many refugees are living in close proximity in camps, incidences of rape and violence often increase. To me, this is extreme poverty. Lacking the means to be anywhere else when you are aware that yourself and family are in an incredibly vulnerable situation with no way out.

Obviously, washing my hair in cold water bears no resemblance to these kind of experiences. But thinking about the non-material differences, such as privacy, highlights how poverty is about far more than being financially poor.

So, is money the only answer? And what can we do to make people in vulnerable situations safer?