Day 12: Hunger

I'll be honest again today. I have in the past tried to glaze over some of the more challenging parts of the "challenge" in the interest of promoting simplicity. But tonight the mask is off. For a higher reason. I want to just admit, this is hard, and I feel the pit of hunger in my stomach throughout the challenge, and I embrace it as a part of empathizing with the struggle I see in those I've met in the slums. This kind of hunger is their daily reality. They have no day 31. 

This is a photo of a boy and his home in a squatter's colony in Kathmandu, Nepal. There is something deeply moving about this image that tells a thousand words. Do you feel it?

And this is a mother and daughter who enthusiastically invited me into their makeshift home and fed me the small snack they had available; likely sacrificing what small calorie count they had to survive off of, in the interest of hospitality. True humility! I warmly and gratefully accepted their hospitality and sat and spoke with them using the little broken English we could exchange. It was a moment I'll never easily forget.

It's in this colony we've just recently begun an outreach to the 200+ children who call this place home. Most have no access to an education and very little to eat. We aim to change that for them, with your help.

Great news! Today we saw $250 come in through some very generous donations, to help us fund scholarships for the children of this colony and others like it where we work, in Manila, Philippines; Hyderabad, India, and Kampala, Uganda! This means we're just $110 away from funding our 4th scholarship on this challenge! Way to go! We can do this! Together, we can make a difference!

Would you consider chipping in anything you can afford toward our goal? Learn more and donate using this link! 

A quick overview on what I was able to come up with for day 12, living on just $1 worth of food...

Breakfast. 1/3 cup of oatmeal, with 2 slices from my frozen banana ration, a few raisins and a dash of cinnamon! And a variation on the breakfast taco! Stir fried the rice with beans, a splash of canola oil and soy sauce, with a scrambled egg and a tablespoon of pasta sauce! The variety makes all the difference and I savored every bite! ▼

Lunch. Cabbage/pasta/ramen salad! Thanks to the suggestion of a reader, I tried this chilled pasta salad today. In the Houston heat of 97F/35C it was a welcome change to my previous hot soup lunches of the past few days! You can see the ingredients in the photo, so I won't bother to name them all, but the technique was worthy of mentioning--I placed everything but the stir-fried ramen in the freezer for 15 minutes! Topped with a touch of oil & vinegar from my oils/seasonings allowance, and this was an extremely refreshing variety-changer! ▼

Dinner. I enjoyed the "Vegetarian Texas Chili" from the other night so much that I had to do a repeat. This is so utterly simple yet so delicious, you cannot go wrong with this concoction. Basic ingredients are mashed pinto beans and corn tortilla strips, coupled with various but light seasonings like salt, pepper, vinegar, 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar, corn meal, ground cumin seed and of course, a bit of chili powder. Delicious and filling, but very low on the calorie count. ▼

I am so very grateful for your support. This is not an easy challenge, but with your encouragement, and with the results that will come about from your donations, it's not so bad at all. It's all about the result, and with the lives I know we'll be able to change together, it's all worth it.

Take Action!

1) Please consider giving toward scholarships for children of the slums. Our goal is to cover a scholarship for 20 kids to get an education this next year. Every little bit helps!

2) Please visit my unofficial sponsor, Amazon.com through this link. 7% of your purchases made through the link are given to Peace Gospel. If you're in the UK, use this link.

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!