CAFOD supporters pledge to live on a pound a day for Lent
A retired teacher who once worked in Ethiopia is challenging herself to survive on £1 a day for a week to raise awareness of world hunger.
Anna Bourke, 59, and her husband Simon, 61, of Chellaston, Derby, have challenged themselves to live on one pound a day for the week February 15 to 22 to CAFOD’s Lent Fast Day appeal and as part of the Hungry for Change Campaign. Not only are Anna and Simon limiting themselves to spending no more than £1 each on food but they will also be rationing the amount of water they drink, adding a small charge for each glass.
Anna, who spent six weeks teaching English to former street children in Ethiopia in 2006 and has been back twice to visit the project, said she decided to try the ‘£1-a-day Challenge’ because of the children she met in Ethiopia. She recently heard that one of her former students who receives help from a CAFOD project lost her grandmother through malnutrition.
Anna said: “It’s to show solidarity with people who don’t have the safety net that we have – they can’t borrow, they can’t go overdrawn, they’ve got no savings. I’ve been inspired by the young people in Ethiopia. Their enthusiasm and vitality and talent always amazed me. We might fail miserably at it, but we’re going to give it a go.”
Please help people who have no safety net. Give to CAFOD’s Lent appeal >>
Anna and Simon will start by emptying their larder or locking away any tinned food, including Anna’s favourite fresh coffee. Anything else they will buy from their meagre £2 on a day-by-day basis, even on the day they look after their three-year-old grandson and share lunch together.
She said: “I think we will be eating a lot of porridge and visiting the shop’s discounts area. I’m hoping to persuade the local Co-op to sell us eggs in twos rather than by the half dozen. One of the biggest difficulties is going to be the embarrassment factor. If friends call round, will I say something or not?”
CAFOD’s Hungry for Change campaign calls on David Cameron to use his Presidency of the G8 to tip the balance of power in favour of small-scale farmers who grow half the world’s food and to push for checks on the power of global food companies. We believe it’s a scandal that 870 million people don’t have enough to eat, when the world produces enough food to feed us all.
Please call on David Cameron to take action on global hunger>>
We’re asking you to sign cards to the Prime Minister or send him a message online. The Hungry for Change action cards focus on the parable of the loaves and fishes where giving even a small amount can make a difference to thousands of people.
What could you do?
Churches and schools across England and Walesare organising so many activities to mark the annual Lent Fast Day on Friday, February 22, 2013. In Derby, as well as the‘£-a-day’ Challenge, other ideas include creating hunger cloths (large tapestries made up of panels submitted by individuals or groups), organising a frugal lunch, and a big card signing. Fred Uttley from Burnley in Lancashire will be getting sponsored to cycle through the dioceses of England and Wales, raising awareness about hunger as he goes.
Find ideas, resources and downloadables on our Parish Lent page >>
Hungry for Change comes as we join more than 109 other development agencies to campaign on the issue of hunger. The "Enough Food For Everyone....IF" campaign is the biggest coalition of its kind since Make Poverty History in 2005.
