PovertyChallenge

... I feel a bit like Jerry Springer, summing up at the end of another tough and challenging broadcast. Except it was acutally tough and challenging, and while I have still been relatively warm and well-fed (unlike some of the hardier challengers!) the experience has made me think about what it must be like to live in poverty, day-in-day out.

I chose to live on £5 a day because I thought I wouldn't be able to cut out electricity or water entirely, and limiting my luxuries would probably be good for me. After deducting bills, doing a reduced food shop and deciding to cycle everywhere this week (despite the rain) I was suprised to find quite a bit of money still left, and while going to the cinema mid-week probably wasn't the best idea (I have had a very quiet weekend!), I didn't starve. I did, however, postpone a hair cut until next week, wear ripped jeans that I couldn't afford to replace (cycling everywhere seems to put undue stress on denim...), and didn't see my friends as often as I would have liked. I got soaked when I couldn't use public transport, I wore more jumpers to keep warm, and it'll be a long time before I ever want to see another carrot sandwich. What if I'd fallen ill and had to pay more than a day's allowance for a prescription?

I've realised the worst thing about living on £5 a day isn't the actual day-to-day existance, but not having enough in an emergency. It's impossible to save anything, and so living on £5 a day means constantly living on the brink of destitution.

More than 1 in 5 people in the UK live in poverty. In Glasgow, a child born in the poorest district has a life expectancy of 54 while a child born in one of the same city's more affluent areas will live to 82. I find it hard to belive that in such a wealthy country as the UK such a divide can exist. Thanks to those who have sponsored me, a donation to Oxfam to tackle support their work here and abroad. Taking part in the poverty challenge has really made me determined to campaign against the injustice of poverty, and I hope reading the blog of all these wonderful povery challengers will make you so too!

So it's the final day of the water challenge and I am looking forward to a life of walking for the joy of it rather than having to to get enough water.

This last week has really helped to show me just how tough a woman who has to walk for her water has to be, there are difficult decisions to be made everyday about what to use the water for and how much time/ energy you have left after going to get your water. Water becomes something at the forefront of your mind and something you carefully measure and watch - I don't think I'll ever take turning the tap on for granted in the same way now.

This last week I have walked 86.1km which earnt me 284.13 litres of water and currently I have used 282.13 litres (likihood is I shall go over my quota before midnight tonight).

To achieve these water stats I have had to not wash my clothes or my hair and to wash from a bucket rather than a shower. I have had to measure/ rationalise every bit of water I am to use with many calculations on pieces of paper and literally see a lot of my water flushed down the toilet!

Highlights of this week have been meeting my MP John Leech and talking with him about climate change and my challenge and the fact he is going to support our challenges by putting an early day motion in about them! I have also felt hugely supported by the community of people doing the challenges and a lot of people who are not (thank you!).

An average person on the UK would use 1050 litres in a week = I used only a quarter of that this last week.

I think going forwards from this week I will try to make sure that I really try to reduce the amount of water that I waste. I think that a key way for us to think about tackling climate change is not just our carbon footprint but our water footprint too.

I hope that you have found my challenge and my blog interesting - thanks for reading!

So today was pretty usual for this week, same carrot sandwiches, same cycle to work in the rain. And as usuual for a Friday evening I went to my Spanish class - it wasn't until I was on my way there that I realised that although I have already paid for the course I should probably factor the cost of this class into my budget. Which would be over two day's worth of my allowance and would put me in debt... but as I had spent a good hour of my morning before work doing my homework for the class (leaving things til the last minute being my speciality) I decided to cheat a bit and go.

Funnily enough, global poverty wasn't the topic of today's class and given that it's beginner's level I found myself reaching for the dictionary a lot to explain myself (although we did learn to say "yo estudio espanol para coquetear con la gente atractiva" ... work it out for yourself).

But the whole episode did remind me than living in poverty isn't just about a struggle with the daily costs of living. The costs of education are astronomical for those living in poverty, and people are forced to make ridiculous choices: school or medicine, education or food?

A Youtube search for "spanish" and "poverty" found this litte gem, El Tiempo es Hoy. Enjoy!

So today I walked in a different direction - I went to meet my MP John Leech at his constituency office in Didsbury (South Manchester).

We had a really good chat about the poverty challenge, what poverty meant to him, and even had a glass of water together!

We also talked about climate change and how we need to get more MPs seeing the long term importance of taking climate action now - perhaps by showing them the financial gain they will make in the long run? Though I stand by it being a justice issue for me - why should the poorest countries have to be hit the hardest by something they have barely contributed to?

We discussed how natural disastors were getting worse and more frequent and both talked of our personal experiences of visiting communities hit by climate change - John in Bangladesh and myself in Uganda.

We talked about the need for additional sources of financing beyond the 0.7% of gdp that's been promised for 2013 and of how the UK needs to be a world leader in tackling climate change and implimenting ideas like the robin hood tax to find the additional money needed to do so - rather than waiting for someone else to lead the way.

We also talked about how people like us poverty challengers could have more influence on shaping the governments policy - and he was very supportive of what we've done so far - going on to say get more people involved and talking to more MPs! That if people aren't out there showing that they care then the government wont consider it a priority issue.

In fact John liked the poverty challenge idea so much he is going to put an early day motion into parliament next week to highlight what we've been up to and the fact that over 100 people across the North of England (from the age of 4-60) took part to show their solidarity with people living in poverty in the UK and overseas.

Check out my video interview with John.

Finally I'd like to wish good luck to everyone taking part in the Big Climate Connection today/tomorrow - a mass constituency lobby on climate change right across the country! I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes!

Happy bonfire night everyone (I'll update with full walking/water stats and my story of being soaked through by a lorry tomorrow :)

Amazing how easy it is to disappear when you are not in permanent contact with the world digitally. It's quite nice in fact to fall off the radar for a while, a bit of peace and quiet is definitely welcome.

I checked my email on a computer today (how old fashioned!) and realised what the bulk of what I receive and deal with instantly as it comes through to my phone was. It was in fact 90% rubbish. Tons of advertising, notifications and spam with very little of importance interpersed within it. When you get a spam message during the day you delete it there and then without a second thought and just forget about it. When you see laid out how little of what I get is actually useful it made me think that perhaps it isn't such a big deal not having them to hand at all times.

Could it be the more time I spend away from my phone, the less I care?

Now imagine no TV, Radio, phone, internet or newspapers. Could you cope?

So for the fourth day in a row I walked home in the rain ... 4 out of 4 ... must be getting a bit dull to read about. At least Manchester is keeping up its rainy reputation!

Today I got thinking a lot about the phrase 'water water everywhere but not a drop to drink' - it seems very apt for me at the moment when I'm tending to spend a couple of hours each day walking in the rain. It got me thinking about the water we can and can't use - did you know that only 0.7% of the world's water is freshwater available for drinking and with increasing population/ urbanisation/ climate change/ consumption of water that supply is going to more and more stretched. The other problem is that water is already poorly spread as it is and some countries don't have the infrastructure to access their water supply as well as others at the moment.

Water is an essential in our lives and I'm not sure until this week I have ever really thought about it that much and appreciated how lucky I am to have such easy access to as much clean fresh water as I want in my normal life. 

Water stats for the day:

Walked: 11.75km    Water earnt: 38.78 litres + (left over from yesterday 17.38) = 56.16 litres   Water used: 42.36 litres

Left for tomorrow: 13.8 litres ... Not a lot left tonight - went a bit crazy washing dishes and drank quite a lot because I was feeling a wee bit dehydrated. Once again I went into water debt in the morning despite my best efforts!

Ways I have managed to cheat the system to stay within my limit but that I wouldn't realistically be able to do forever:

- I haven't washed any clothes - despite the fact I have a lot of muddy trousers now from the rainy walks home.

- I have washed out of a bucket rather than showering as I normally do - I have not yet bucket washed my hair.

- I've eaten very dry food - though I have huge soup cravings

- I've tried to do as many water saving things that I can (though sadly I don't have a supply of hippos to put in every toilet and reduce the waste sadly as it's still annoyed how much flushing the toilet takes up out of my limit!)

Good news:

Tomorrow you won't just have to hear from me - I'm meeting my MP John Leech to talk about my challenge and what poverty, climate change and water means to him!

My challenge at the moment is to walk 6km to get water ... but if as a society we continue to generally ignore/ be apathetic towards climate change as we are now - how far will I have to walk next year to get my water? I want to know what I can do alongside my MP to reduce the distance that me and so many other women are walking for water today... rather than see it rise!

So as you may gather from the title I'm starting to get a bit tired of walking for water. I love to walk - in the hills and the sunshine and when I want to walk ... Not at the end of a day at work in the rain ... for the third day in a row. I'm just not sure that if I did have to do this everyday I'd be able to keep doing a full time job as well.

Tonight I was happy that it was only drizzle to walk home in - compared to last night's swim home. But I guess Im one of those people who likes to do things when I want to - not because I have to! Walking down the same dark, straight damp roads is just monotonous after a while. Why is it the morning walk in the light is always so much more pleasant?

I had a good afternoon in Lancaster meeting with the new Oxfam university group up there (including the lovely Heather Mack who I was pleased to see had not blown away in her tent!). But it's not a fun decision to make on the train home as to how far away train station I should get off at when all I want to do is get home into the warm ... but I want water when I get there!

Good points of today:

- Comments of support from people (including my MP John Leech) and reading how well everyone else is doing despite the challenges.

- Seeing the enthusiasm of uni students in Lancaster

- Reaslising I miscalculated my water so I might be able to water afford to bucket wash in the morning - you have no idea how exciting that is!

- Kindness of my lovely housemates despite my self pity

Worst points of today:

- Becoming so tired zzzzz (can I still blame it on the malaria? I think its been too long!) and feeling a bit fed up and a bit grumpy - I'm normally a pretty chirpy soul

- Realising I went into water debt this morning (from flushing the toilet and bucket washing) and realising therefore I was breaking the challenge as a woman who walked 6km to get her water wouldn't be able to do that.

- Seeing the waste of water along the way to and from work - hosepipes going on the floor, rain puddles that block the road and evaporate rather than going into the drains.

Water stats for the day:

Walked: 14.28km Water earnt: 47.12 litres + yesterdays left over (+5.83 left from yesterday) = 52.95 litres Water used: 35.575 litres

Water left over for the morning: 17.38 litres

Final water thought for the day:

Tomorrow is half way through (phew - I'm really not that tough I'm starting to realise!) - Today as I was walking I got thinking about water gadgets and wanted to share this ted video: Watch through to minute 7 and you'll see them discussing the fact that people don't need fancy gadgets to filter water just a simple bit of clean cloth folded up 8 times - why isn't this more well known? Why do people buy all the fancy water filters?

Righto enough of my moaning - after all I have a warm bed to go to. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be back to my chipper singing in the rain self. Especially if my MP John Leech agrees to meet up on Friday to talk about my challenge???

Need to call my family, forgot to tell them I was doing this and I am imagining many many missed calls enquiring as to whether anything is wrong with me. Problem is, I don't know anybody's number any more and I am not allowed to look them up on my phone. This was a problem I did not forsee, as all potential problems I had thought of revolved around missing texts, calls and emails or not having sat nav or internet at my fingertips. And so, I am stuck. I will just have to call everyone up on Monday and tell them why I have been a virtual recluse.

Did you ever notice how everyone everywhere  always has their phone in their hands all of the time? No? Perhaps its just me then.

Did you know that $1.6 Billion will be spent on mobile apps this year? And that there will be 6.1 trillion texts sent in 2010? How about the fact that if you add in data revenues, mobile phone traffic is worth a trillion dollars a year? These are big numbers, showing how obsessed the world is with mobile phones. Think of that money, how connected the world is and think about how people could use this to change the world.

Looks like it isn't just me then.

Day 2: having done the calculations for the week's expenditure and factored in all my bills and the food shop yesterday, it's another carrot sandwich today and a walk to work. All well and good in the sunshine, but by this evening it is absolutely chucking it down, as anyone who lives in Manchester will testify. What's worse, I don't have a raincoat with me and I've already promised to accompany a poverty-challenge friend on her walk home to Chorlton. We set off in high spirits but by the time we get there I actually have to peel my jeans off my legs and ring a pool of water out of them!

Manchester in the rain (artisit's impression)

A return bus ride would've cost me a day's worth of water, gas and electricity, and I chose to run the risk of pneumonia so that I could turn on the heating and make a cuppa when I get home! When every penny needs to be accounted for, simple choices that I wouldn't usually give a second thought become really significant. 

Our power hour is coming to an end. I realise I always took the bright kitchen lights for granted, after sitting reading by candle light for the last hour. There's something romantic about the flickering candle, surrounded in darkness.

My poverty challenge began with a pleasant ride to work, slight drizzle, not too many manic drivers. I arrived with a flat tyre, somehow managing to not notice until I stopped riding. With images of being stranded at school for the night or pushing my bike the 2 hour walk home I was much relieved when a knight in shining armour came to my rescue!

I feel like i've been racing against time today. I had to do as much as possible at work and still leave in daylight so I could cycle home. When I got home, I realised how much we rely on electricity. Normally I come home, have a cup of tea and a snack and turn the computer on. I just didn't know what to do with myself! There has been more time racing tonight as we try to shower, cook tea, wash up and write a blog in one hour. I think we've just about made it!

Phew! Lights out, computer off, back to candle light.

Well, the first day of the poverty challenge kicked in when I realised I had neglected to go food shopping at the weekend, and would not be able to afford to buy a tasty deli sandwich during my lunch-break at work. A hasty carrot sandwich was cobbled together (the sole contents of my fridge), which I admit did attract some sideways looks from my colleagues. All in the aid of awareness-raising, of course.

Shopping at Asda later today I kept to a strict budget and couldn’t afford to choose anything fair-trade or organic, highlighting the cost of some principles I take for granted.

I also missed out on the afternoon chocolate-run at work   It’s not until you can’t have something that you realise how much you miss it.

Other, hopefully more profound, insights to come!

I have decided to take part in a one-week poverty challenge to highlight how I and my friends and family often take for granted the priviliges we have growing up in a country like the UK. We have so many advantages over the millions of people around the globe who live on less than a dollor a day who's voices cannot be heard and whose lives are a constant struggle.

So what brave, heroic thing am I doing to raise awareness and make people think about poverty? Well I am going to go back to the dark ages and live without my mobile phone. "Not such a big thing then?" you are most likely thinking. Well in itsself, no. But think about it. They have become part of our lives, keeping us connected, a hotline to those that are important to us, our friends and family, work or the emergency services. Something we have learned to rely on. 

I am going to have to do without my beloved Blackberry (my emails, my phonebook, my camera, my sat nav, mp3 player, web-surfer and of course calls & texts!) for a whole week. Something that to me is challenging, but every time I reach for where it would be, I will be giving a thought to those who wouldn't bat an eyelid over such a ridiculous notion. Fingers crossed I make it!