Day 29: It's different for children

Well, here I am on the eve of the ending day. At this point my body has kind of set into a rhythm of just knowing this is the new normal. I had a lunch meeting with some friends who will be meeting me in Nepal next month, and they were feasting on what I'm sure was great food. It did not even phase me. I say this not to brag about how strong I am to overlook their delicious food. Rather, I bring it up as a point of human psychology, that after a while you just resign to the reality of your situation, and you learn to block out certain sensory triggers completely.

I wonder about those who go on in this kind of "challenge" indefinitely as a way of life. For the adults living in extreme poverty, I can see where they could be strong and endure through the hardships and the hunger in the interest of survival and sacrificing for their children. However, what I cannot fathom, is how the children endure it. Their challenge in these conditions is infinitely more difficult.

So I'd like to dedicate day 29 to these children I've met and photographed in the slums. All of their emotions, from smiles to sorrow, inspire me... and I know you would say the same as well.

Kathmandu, Nepal:

Manila, Philippines:

Kampala, Uganda:

Hyderabad, India:

I have some good news for you today! We've raised another $330 toward my goal of 20 scholarships for these children of the slums. This puts us just $80 short of our 17th scholarship funded! And just $1,580 short of my bigger goal of $10,000 for 20 scholarships. I'm overwhelmed by the support and very grateful for all of you who have helped in whatever way you can. Please follow this link to learn more, and consider helping me reach my goal, with just one day remaining!

I also invite you to follow this link, to view photos of HOPE on the smiles of the women and children who benefit from our programs.

Here's what I was able to put together with just $1 worth of food for today... 

Breakfast. I was ready to get the day rolling so I didn't have much time for anything elaborate. A quick re-fried beans and brown rice combo on the corn tortilla, topped with an over-easy egg, made for a great little breakfast taco. No apologies, I love eggs. ▼

Lunch. More of the bonus of being over-conservative in my rationing earlier in the challenge, I had an entire brick of ramen noodles to add to this egg fried rice deliciousness. Everything tastes better when you're hungry, and you learn to appreciate every morsel. ▼

Dinner. Another variation of the Baked Hasselback Potato. I used my extra potato rations to enjoy a my second full potato. This time I simply shredded a half-carrot and garnished the top of the potato at 20 minutes remaining on the bake at 425F/220C. Simple and delicious, it really did the job for dinner. ▼

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!

Day 28: The real challenge

The challenge is definitely starting to wear on me. I'm so ready for this to be over. However, I'm compelled to push through with a strong finish, because there are so many who do not have a day 31. This is no challenge at all, I keep telling myself, compared to what they endure on a daily basis. They're the ones with the real challenge on their hands. They're the ones who need your support and encouragement, not me.

Usually when I visit the slum colonies where we work, it's dry season or at least not raining. One of the things I think about a lot is what they endure during the monsoons or other rain storms. Their makeshift homes are not in any way equipped to handle the downpours. As their settlements are situated in less than desirable locations, they're usually flood-prone. As a result, the conditions are unimaginable, mosquitoes rampant, snakes, cholera outbreaks, etc. The intense heat and humidity that follows the floods makes the conditions and putrid odors even worse. My heart aches for them during these severe weather conditions.

I'm dedicating day 28 to these kids I met in the slums of Kampala, Uganda who endure some of the worst living conditions I've ever witnessed. We've just begun an education & nutrition outreach here, another one of our "Children's Hope Centers" to try to improve their lives.

My intention in documenting and sharing these scenes is two fold, 1) to wake us up to be more thankful for what we have, and 2) to give you a real sense of the conditions that my words could never adequately describe.

This girl was showing me where here latrine is, as she stands in front of it. There's no sewage system here of course, and children play barefoot or in flip-flops in the sewage drainage.

A mother and her daughters make their way back from fetching their daily water supply, which is probably not from a safe source.

For those of you who might have been following along, I know I might be starting to sound redundant, but it's because I want to drive home the point. We could stop here. We could feel overwhelmed and despondent and throw our hands up in the air and say, "Oh well, the problem is way too big, there's nothing we could possibly do to solve this." But that's just not the case. You see, we can do something. We can do something one child at a time.

And as we all begin to overcome this defeatist attitude of indifference, realize we can do something, and then actually play whatever little part we can, we begin to be a part of the solution.

What's the solution, you ask? The solution is hope, hope through small steps of education and nutrition. Making sure that there's food in a child's belly before we educate them, so that they can concentrate in class. Allowing them a chance to break out of the cycle of poverty, child labor, and human trafficking that is destroying innocent lives every day as you and I go on about our daily routines. The solution is also found in achieving sustainability, thus we've empowered our native team here with a farmland enterprise. 

The goal is their smiles, but not just fleeting smiles. Smiles that come from the satisfaction of hard work in education, to achieve a solid foundation for their future. Smiles from a deeper understanding of God's heart for them, a heart to prosper them and not to harm them, plans to give them a hope and a future. But God's heart is expressed through the actions of God's people. That's where we come in to do our part in repairing a broken world.

Great news! Today we received $70 toward my goal, putting us just $410 short of our 17th scholarship! Please follow this link to give any amount you can spare, knowing that it all counts, and all can make a huge difference in the life of one of these children.

On the final stretch! Here's what I managed to create using just $1 of food today...

Breakfast. I enjoyed yesterday's variety of texture with the omelet-style egg, so I tried that again today with re-fried bean & rice mixture, topped with fresh carrots and pepper. ▼

Lunch. I tried boiling in a beaten egg with the pasta again. This really adds a nice texture and the protein is a good balance to the starchiness. Just drop it in one minute before your pasta is done, strain with the pasta, carrots and cabbage, then mix in pasta sauce and you're done. Oh, I think I also cooked in half of a cubed potato, so this was definitely filling! (Still benefiting from my conservatism in rationing earlier in the challenge). ▼

Dinner. The lunch had remained somewhat heavy on my stomach (all things considered) so I just wanted something light for dinner. Used some of the last banana slices I have left, added with raisins and standard 1/3 cup of oatmeal. With a little cinnamon, not a bad end-of-day meal. ▼

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!

Day 26: Surplus!

Today I'm taking a break from "heavy" blogging due to yesterday's intense post. Great news is that I went way conservative on my first 25 days' rations, and now I find myself with a bit of a surplus for the remainder of the challenge. This comes at a great time in the "race" as this is when it starts getting really monotonous.

In other good news, we received a very generous $25 donation and this brings us up to our 16th scholarship now funded! Wow! This makes it all worth it and I'm so grateful for all of your support in whatever way you've offered it. Whether it be through your encouragement, sharing my posts, spreading the word about this blog, using the amazon link or actually giving toward the goal, I'm thankful for your support!

So here's what I was able to come up with using just $1 worth of ingredients for today's 3 meals...

Breakfast. Nothing super-fancy here, just a breakfast taco with my typical re-fried rice-n-beans mix plus a fried egg on a corn tortilla. When you're hungry, wow, this really hits the spot, and plenty of protein to get you pretty close to lunch. ▼

Lunch. I know, it's redundant, right? But when you don't have a lot of time and you're really hungry, you make what you like and what you know works. I just love this Korean bibimbap dish. It's so easy and it's so tasty. Half a brick of Ramen noodles, brown rice, carrots, cabbage all stir fried, with a fried egg on top. The runny yolk creates a sort of sauce and it's really quite satisfying. All for about 30 cents! ▼

Dinner. Depending on what your definition is, these are either chimichangas or taquitos. Whatever you want to call them, these hit the spot after a long wait since lunch. My usual recipe on this works quite well, and easy to make. Just google chimichanga recipe and you'll find plenty of options on this. My version is a simple re-fried bean-n-rice mix with raw carrots for the filling inside the corn tortillas, topped with pasta sauce after baking for 8 minutes at 500F/260C. ▼

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!

Day 22: If we work together

As I round the corner into the final week, I'm feeling relatively strong and definitely grateful for all of your support. Thanks to many of you overcoming indifference, to believe that even a small donation can make a big difference, we've surpassed the $7,500 mark! This means 15 children's lives forever changed, with a scholarship that gets them their first pair of shoes, a uniform, book bag, school supplies and access to daily nutrition and tutoring at one of our "Children's Hope Centers"! This is fantastic and I couldn't be happier with your participation and support!

With donations totaling $200 today, we're just $280 away from our 16th scholarship being met through readers of this blog! Would you consider chipping in whatever you can afford, even if it's just $5? It all adds up. Please follow this link to learn more and give today, to be a part of the solution. Thanks to our farmland enterprises multiplying our funds and providing nutritious ingredients for our program meals, it's a sustainable solution. A solution to rescue children from child labor and keep them away from the traffickers.

I'm dedicating day 22 to these girls in the Secunderabad landfill "scavenger's colony" as I call it, in metro Hyderabad, India. A lesser-known city globally, but at 8 million residents, it's among the 40 most populated cities in the world—and among those, one of the fastest growing. The overload in urbanization has spawned 1,400 make-shift slum settlements, mostly around the edges of the city. In these colonies, thousands survive from what averages out to be about $1 a day scavenging for redeemable materials such as metals, plastic and anything that the recyclers can imagine refurbishing or melting down to resell. 

Desperate to make ends meet, often times parents take their children along to help, in very hazardous conditions. Several scavengers have died in this landfill, from landslides on the side of the mountain of trash. Education is not an option because there's simply no way to imagine buying the supplies, shoes, or uniform necessary to enroll.

I always enjoy the hospitality of these humble people, as they invite me into their pieced-together homes for a simple cup of tea or whatever snack they might offer me. I spoke with this lady in what little broken Telugu I know, and with the help of my interpreter, we discussed her challenges living in the colony. I felt a desperation in her tone as she wonders what will become of her children.

But there's hope! As evidenced from my photos of children who have benefited from our programs, there's a way out, and it's bringing hope to those who were previously hopeless. It only requires everyone stepping up to play whatever small part they can. And there's hope for this woman, who knows that her children have a chance to enroll at our education center just a few minutes walk from her settlement. I know it sounds overly idealistic of me, but I really, really believe it's true that together, if we overcome indifference, we can make a difference, one child at a time!

Here's my effort to empathize with those trying to make a lot out of a little. My 3 meals today, prepared with just $1 worth of food...

Breakfast. Nothing too spectacular here, but quite a tasty breakfast taco! Simple re-fried beans and brown rice mixture with a fried egg and seasonings on a corn tortilla. ▼

Lunch. In a hurry, sometimes stir-fry is the best solution. A simple egg fried rice preparation with cabbage, carrots and seasonings. ▼

Dinner. I know I'm definitely lacking in the variety department the past two days, but this potato/bean/tortilla pasta noodle "chili" combo (which includes shredded carrots) really wins for heartiness, so you can't complain! ▼

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!

Day 21: Extreme poverty

I'm dedicating day 21 to this little boy I met in the Thapathali slum settlement of Kathmandu, Nepal. I've made a few visits to this colony where we're in the process of launching a new "Children's Hope Center" to reach the 200+ kids who live here. My meals look gourmet compared to what they eat. Here he stands in front of his makeshift home that has no electricity, no latrine and certainly no running water. It's a crude form of a shelter, hardly enough to protect him from the Himalayan winter's cold spells and the rains of the monsoons.

Many will ask, so what's the difference between this and the problems of the homeless of my (Western) country? My answer is generally that we're dealing with a different kind of poverty in the developing world. We call it "extreme poverty" because of the extreme risks such a population is exposed to, especially among the children and women of such populations, and even more so among orphans, widows and single mothers.

A shocking statistic that puts things into quick perspective is that every day 33 Nepalese children, mostly girls, become human trafficking victims. Often times relatives are lured with an attractive "advance" and tricked into thinking the child will be working in a domestic servant or nanny role, or some similar alleged respectable job. But in reality they are taken across the Indian border, mostly to brothels, where they're forced to become prostitutes, and some to hazardous labor situations where they are never to be heard from again.

In almost all cases, the children targeted are from among the poorest, such as these of the slums, where parents or relatives of orphans are most susceptible to believe in the schemes of the traffickers. This is a young girl I met in the same colony—she was showing me a small meal she had prepared for herself while her parents were away looking for day labor jobs. She's on our list of children we'd like to serve through the Children's Hope Center we're the process of launching in her community.

To learn more about the realities of human trafficking, child labor and the orphan crisis, please read this report I've put together for Peace Gospel International.

However, to build on last night's post, I want to add that the solution is not simply more funding. It's more funding for sustainable, empowering solutions to extreme poverty. That's why we've equipped our native team in Nepal with a farmland, where they raise goats and grow organic crops to help keep our program's pantries well-stocked with nutritious foods, and to provide additional funding from sales of excess yields.

And here's a result. Orphan girls once trapped in child labor, at extreme risk of being trafficked, now happy, safe and receiving proper nutrition and education at our orphanage home in Kathmandu. They have great hope and their future is looking very bright.

Great news! Today we received $525 in donations toward our scholarship fund for children of the slums, bringing our total up to 15 scholarships funded, just from readers of this blog! Thank you! And we're just $480 away from our 16th! Please follow this link to learn more about the program and give anything you can afford to chip in—it all makes a difference!

Here's a look at what I was able to prepare today using a total of just $1 worth of food...

Breakfast. I've been experimenting with a new style of re-fried beans by mashing in brown rice with the beans before simmering in water and a tablespoon of canola oil. Works well in the breakfast taco. In the same oil I first lightly fried the potato strips and carrot slices you can see in the photo. Anything for variety's sake. A very delicious and satisfying breakfast, all things considered! My guess is that this cost under 30 cents. ▼

Lunch. I wasn't feeling very creative and didn't have much time on my hands. I needed something simple to throw together. I realized I've been going really light on my raisin rations and have what looks like plenty for the remaining days of the challenge. So I added some extra raisins in with my oatmeal ration, along with four slices of frozen banana, added a dash of cinnamon, and this was really fine for what I needed until dinner. ▼

Dinner. I've really been enjoying the "filling feeling" of these potato/tortilla/bean soup varieties I've been coming up with, so I decided to try yet another version tonight. I finely shredded 1/3 of a carrot and let that boil with the potatoes, 1/4 cup of pasta noodles, 1 cup of cooked beans, and half of a ramen noodle brick. Also added two chopped corn tortillas and a variety of seasonings (cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, ramen spices) to create a very hearty soup. Best part is these are so easy to make! Total prep time was about 10 minutes! ▼

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!

Day 20: Within reach

I'm dedicating day 20 to these amazing kids I've spent some time with in the Secunderabad landfill scavenger's colony of metro Hyderabad, India, one of the most populated cities on the planet. This is in the colony directly adjacent to the colony where our "Children's Hope Center" is located, and we'd like to expand our reach to help the few dozen children who live here. They do not attend school, instead working to help their parents sift through the garbage looking for redeemable materials like plastics, metals or even rubber shoe soles. It's a hazardous life.

I was happy that we were able to distribute some food and some soccer balls from One World Futbol, and this brought them some temporary joy. However, I know we (you and I) can, and must do more. They're within easy reach—the parents are interested in enrolling them in our education center, but the honest truth is, all that's standing in between them and a bright future is... adequate funding.

More accurately, all that's standing in between them and hope is us overcoming indifference. I cannot stress enough the truth that if we come together and overcome this feeling that our contribution is not going to make difference, then we can actually, in fact... make a real difference!

Part of my goal with this challenge is to raise awareness of extreme poverty. But not only awareness, action also. Thus I've set a goal to raise enough funds through this blog to put 20 children through our Children's Hope programs for one year—and we're getting close!

We're just $5 short of our 14th scholarship—a scholarship that will help us rescue another child trapped in child labor in one of the communities where we serve. Please follow this link to learn more and make a donation toward our scholarship fund, for children of the slums—children who are trapped in dead-end lives with no chance of education, at extremely high risk of being trafficked into prostitution or even, God forbid, organ harvesting. It sounds unbelievable but it's true, it's a simple reality in the developing world, a reality that must be made known. My personal exposure to these realities is one of the compelling factors in me taking this challenge so seriously.

The result is radically altered life-paths: education, mentorship, nutrition, security... leading to hope, opportunity, growth, and healthy balanced lives, like theirs in this photo at our India girl's home!

Here's what I was able to cook up today using a total of just $1 worth of ingredients for three meals...

Breakfast. Yet another variation of the versatile breakfast taco, this time, a few strips of lightly fried potatoes, re-fried beans and a scrambled egg (all thrown together in the same skillet), plus a small portion of oatmeal with raisins and a few slices of banana. ▼

Lunch. This was a very basic version of a cabbage salad with baked ramen noodles, carrots, a hard-boiled egg, a few pieces of boiled potatoes, raisins and pinto beans. Seasoned with salt and vinegar. Hearty and pure! ▼

Dinner. All I had remaining in my rations for today was part of a small potato, pinto beans, pasta and two corn tortillas. So I made an improvised potato soup with a bean base and chopped up corn tortillas with some basic seasonings like chili powder, it was really quite good actually! ▼

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!