Day 6: Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions/Feedback about this challenge.

Does it count if I buy food for you?

The rules of the challenge are such that I must live off of just $30 worth of food, no food donations accepted.

Can't you just live off of the free samples at the grocery market?

Again, that would be an interesting challenge, but free food is not included in this challenge.

Are you including other living expenses in the $1/day?

No, this challenge is just about food and food only. Millions who live below the poverty line in the developing world have about $1.25-$2.00 per day to work with, for all their living expenses. I am assuming that the largest part of their budget is allocated toward food, so I'm just simulating a similar budget as I'm trying to imagine an equivalent challenge they face with food.

But your simulation is not characteristic of a true poverty situation. 

Right, I realize that. This is just me trying to empathize with one aspect of their struggle.

What ingredients are you working with?

Here's my $30 ingredient list.

How do you factor in cooking oils, herbs, and seasonings?

On the above list you will see that I give myself a small budget to "buy" small portions of my own oils, herbs, and seasonings.

What inspired you to do this?

Many years ago I stayed with some students at Tulane University who were doing a poverty simulation experiment similar to this one. The discussion with those students stuck in the back of my mind for several years. Then after spending time in the slums of India one of my trips in 2008, I came back with an urge to demonstrate what this struggle would be like and I set out to live on $1 of food per day for $30 days.

But there are poor people right here in our own country, why do you focus on the developing world?

This is a fair question. In the West there are government assistance programs and a wide array of charitable programs that are addressing the (very real) problem of hunger and poverty here. These programs offer assistance to those who seek it, so that no one really has to go hungry if they seek help. I'm not saying that poverty and hunger are not a problem in developed, western countries, I'm saying that there are ways for the poor to find help when they need it, if they seek it.

In the developing world, this is usually not the case, or at least such programs are woefully underfunded and understaffed. In other words, there are degrees of poverty. In the nonprofit sector we've developed a term we call "extreme poverty" to distinguish the two problems.

Extreme poverty is being poor when there's nowhere to go to get help. Extreme poverty is a desperate kind of poverty that comes down to a struggle for basic survival. Thus I have chosen to focus on helping those who cannot help themselves, those who have no options and are highly susceptible to becoming victims of the darkest of crimes. Especially for the children in these situations, they need our support and our voices more than any other individuals on the planet in my opinion.

Children await a cup of simple porridge for breakfast at the Peace Gospel Children's Hope Center in Kampala, Uganda

Students at our Hope Center School are happy to get a simple bowl of seasoned beans and rice. After doing these challenges, I now can relate more to why their smiles are so big for such a simple meal. 

Charitable Goal Update

I'm very happy to report that we've added another heart on our monthly heart chart in our effort to gather $1,775 in new monthly support of the Peace Gospel / She Has Hope programs to support and empower orphans, at-risk children, and human trafficking survivors. Programs that have operations every single month, and need recurring support as such.

We're now up to 12 hearts filled in just 6 days, representing $351/month or $4,212/year in new donations!

This is a good pace! If we can keep this momentum we will surely fill all 50 hearts by the end of the month!

This is an example of how a small group of individuals believing they can make a difference, pooling their humble resources, and setting them into motion over time (via recurring monthly donations) can make an impressive and lasting impact to bring about real change! 

If we can fill the whole chart, such an impact would completely fund 10 spaces at our Kathmandu rehabilitation home for trafficking survivors, or 24 spaces at our India girls home, for example!

Ready to join in? Here's how:

Just tap on this chart and then on the next page choose the amount of the heart you want to sponsor, choose the day of the month you want your donation to be charged each month, enter your details, and you're done!

Then tomorrow I will fill in your heart to represent the progress we're making!

Now on to a look at what I was able to eat on Day 6, improvising with the limited ingredients.

Take Action!

1) Please consider helping me reach my goal to find 50 new "Sustainers"— donors willing to give a small amount each month toward our work helping vulnerable children and trafficking survivors. Go here and enter the amount you would like to give monthly!

2) Please visit my unofficial sponsor, Amazon.com through this link. 7% of your purchases made through the link are given to the work of Peace Gospel's programs helping orphans, at-risk children of the slums, and human trafficking survivors.

3) If you're compelled by my effort here, please share it with friends. One of the main goals is awareness. So if you can help with that, huge.

4) Leave me feedback. Please comment on this post, especially if you have any ideas about what I should try to cook with these ingredients I have available. I love hearing from you! It really helps!