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 14: Hope for Kampala

I'm kind of at a loss for words tonight, very tired and growing a bit irritable from the hunger, to be honest. But my heart turns toward vivid memories of this slum settlement in Kampala, Uganda, where our newest "Children's Hope Center" project is currently in development. As I recollect their struggles I witnessed first hand, my complaints are silenced immediately. Kampala is the capital city of Uganda, and is one of the poorest and largest cities in central Africa.

The colony is at the bottom of a hill, so all of the sewage pools here, trash is everywhere and the stench is nearly unbearable. After spending four hours there, I felt very ill just from breathing the fumes.

There is a sense of defeat here, an indifference toward the trash and sewage, simply because there's no way to fight it. You could make a massive clean up effort but then upon the next rain, all of the trash and sewage from uphill would simply flood into the colony and put them right back where they started. The children play barefoot in sewage-contaminated waters, and as a result of course almost all diseases that plague the colony are water-borne.

We've started with a very basic facility offering elementary classes to help uneducated children get ready for school. Here's a scene from our classroom I shot on my last visit this year in Kampala. We hope to make many improvements in the months ahead! But we must start somewhere.

These children greeted me with bright smiles and hugs as they gathered outside our facility site. Many of these kids are engaged in child labor. In Uganda, over 40% of children are victims of child labor, most often in very hazardous conditions where safety precautions are never considered.

Your help with my goal for this challenge will help us bring more kids into the program, to offer hope and a way out of this desperate life they live, through education, proper nutrition and hygiene. If you're not familiar with the work of Peace Gospel International, you should know that all of our programs' budgets are supplemented by profits from our various native-led business and farmland enterprise operations, which also provide nutritious ingredients for program participants. Learn more about our work in Uganda here. 

Please follow this link to donate whatever you can afford toward my goal of 20 scholarships for children of the slums. Your gift will help us rescue more of these kids from child labor, to give them a fighting chance against what often follows next in the developing world—child prostitution and trafficking. 

We're currently just $110 away from our 4th scholarship being funded!

Here's what I was able to throw together on a very busy day... not the greatest day in terms of creativity, but it did the job...

Breakfast. A simple bean and egg breakfast taco along with my standard 1/3 cup oatmeal with a few raisins and three slices from my frozen banana ration. ▼

Lunch. Was in a hurry, so I just did a quick re-fried bean & brown rice combo and baked a corn tortilla to make chips. Light but delicious, and easy to make! ▼

Dinner. Wasn't in the mood for anything creative tonight, so I just threw together this ramen stew. 1/3 brick ramen, 1/3 cup of pasta noodles, 2/3 cup of brown rice, a small ration of carrots and potatoes, and one leaf of cabbage. With the right seasonings, not too bad. ▼

Thanks for your continued support. Traffic to the blog continues to grow. Now if we could just catch up a little on our pace for donations toward the goal, that would be great!

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 11: Exhausted

I'll be very honest with you tonight, day 11 has left me feeling very exhausted and a bit overwhelmed. With everything I've got going on leading the organization while also concentrating on my meal "puzzles" three times a day, there's just not as much time left for this blog as I'd like to dedicate to it.

I might take a day or two here and there where I really scale back on the blog content and just document the essential info of getting through the challenge. But tonight I will do my usual dedication, because I just can't keep from telling their story. I'm dedicating day 11 to these kids I met in the Thapathali colony of Kathmandu, Nepal. This is the colony where we've just begun a new program to offer better nutrition and education access for the 200+ children we estimate live here in make-shift homes with no electricity or running water.

The evening I met them they were eating what looked like a very basic soup for dinner. Visit my personal Flickr page for many more shots from this colony. It makes my soup from today's lunch (see below) look like a feast in comparison.

So, here are today's basics. I'm very happy to report that we received a very generous donation of $35, bringing our total up to $1,640. This leaves just $360 to go until we reach our 4th scholarship for a child of the slums!

Please follow this link to donate any amount you can afford toward the goal and help us provide a hopeful future for these kids!

On to what I was able to concoct with 1/30th of this limited ingredients list... 

Breakfast. I used some of my frozen banana rations to add to the 1/3 cup of oatmeal along with a few raisins, for a wonderful new flavor. I did a quick fried rice & fried egg breakfast taco. Anything to mix up the variety! ▼

Lunch. I mashed some boiled potato cubes to mix into the broth of this soup for a new texture. Along with carrots, cabbage, pasta noodles, 1/3rd of a ramen brick, an egg and one corn tortilla cut into strips, this was enough to do the trick for lunch. Although I will say, I sure did pick the worst month of the year to do this challenge. Hot soup during the hottest month of the Houston summer, not the most brilliant idea. But with the right seasonings, it's delicious nonetheless. ▼

Dinner. Adding fresh cabbage to the top of my usual tostada creation (re-fried beans and brown rice on a baked corn tortilla) was a welcome variety-enhancer. It's not much, but it's tasty. ▼

Thanks for your support! Definitely dealing with the doldrums of the challenge, craving my favorite foods and, another thing about doing this challenge—you notice wasted food everywhere! I'm like, "Oh my gosh, you're throwing that away?! If you only knew!"

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 4: My birthday!

I'm dedicating day 4 to the children of the Payatas Landfill Scavenger's colony in Manila, Philippines. It's a slum colony situated right on the edge of a huge landfill. This is the kind of child labor that is rampant here. They sift through the garbage looking for recyclable materials to redeem for a few pennies a pound. I took this shot during my April visit this year. Yes, that's tar on fire right behind him. As with all the images on this blog, just click/tap to enlarge.

But just a few blocks from here there's a glimmer of hope. At the Children's Hope Center of Manila, we're offering children a chance to break out of the cycle of extreme poverty, through proper education and nutrition. Here's a shot of some of our kids learning basic computer skills at the center. That look in their eyes, it's hope.  

Great news! Yesterday someone donated another $25 toward our first goal--one scholarship to help rescue a child from child labor and get her enrolled at one of our education centers. This means we just have $450 to go to reach our first scholarship for this campaign to reach a total of 20! We can do this! Any amount, $1, $5, $10, $25--it all adds up when we come together!

Please donate anything you can afford to help us rescue one of these kids!

On to the food... Today was a good day in terms of variety. Here's what I was able to come up with using just $1 worth of food.

Breakfast. Had time to throw together a breakfast taco to go with my standard 1/3 cup of oatmeal with raisins and a pinch of season-all (yes, savory seasonings work well in oatmeal!) Living near the border of Mexico in Texas has made me a lover of Mexican food, so breakfast tacos work well as a staple for me. ▼

Lunch. A pasta primavera improvisation. Since I only have 1/3 cup of pasta noodles per day, I'll sometimes have to supplement with 1/3 brick of ramen noodles to make a pasta dish substantial enough. Added cabbage and carrots, then after cooking, I sauteed with two table spoons of pasta sauce and a splash of canola oil. Seasoned it with 1/3 of the spicy seasoning pack that came with the ramen. Waste nothing! A smaller portion yield, but really delicious! ▼

Dinner. Tostadas! This time a variation--hard boiled egg on top of re-fried beans and brown rice. Baked the corn tortillas using my usual method--baste with canola oil, bake 4 minutes each side on cookie sheet, oven at 450F/230C. Crunchy goodness, while not leaving the tortilla too brittle! A great result for what I have to work with here! All for less than 40 cents if you can believe it! ▼

Birthday "cake." I splurged for my birthday and blew the rest of my frozen banana ration for the week. And "bought" a little jelly from my existing stock using my seasonings allowance, topped the frozen banana slices with the jelly, a few raisins and a pinch or two of cinnamon. This was seriously delicious! ▼

Thanks so much for your support! Today I was blown away that one of my favorite Instagram accounts (@50shadesoforange) featured my photo from yesterday (of the two kids wearing orange) and mentioned this blog in the caption! This kind of awareness-raising for my effort is really appreciated. Thank you for sharing this blog with friends!

Take Action!

1) Please consider giving toward scholarships for children of the slums. My goal is to cover a scholarship for 20 kids to get an education this next year. Every little bit helps! Currently at $50 of my $10,000 goal! Just $450 to go the first step- scholarship #1!

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 3: Work with what you've got

To sum up the aim of our "Children's Hope Centers" here's a "before" picture I shot on my last visit--children in the slums of Hyderabad, India--victims of child labor. Her faded shirt says, "LOVE IS THE MESSAGE." That pretty much sums it up!

And, essentially, here's the "after" picture--girls who came out of child labor, now happy to be enrolled at our Children's Hope Center in Hyderabad, India. All because someone cared enough to help pitch in toward their scholarships!

My goal for this 30 day challenge is to raise enough funds to rescue 20 more kids from child labor, with scholarships that will put them through a year of school, tutoring and nutrition. We're at $25 of my $10,000 goal.

It's just $500 per scholarship--that takes care of their shoes, hygiene items, uniforms, tutoring, computer classes, school supplies and nutritious meals served at the centers for an entire year! Come on, we can do better than this! Let's get to that first scholarship today! $475 to go! If you can spare anything, even $5, please donate here.

On to what I was able to cook up with just a dollar's worth of food today... like a lot of things in life, it's all about working with what you've got and making the best of it...

Breakfast. As usual, on the run, so I had to settle for a quick cup of oatmeal. I "bought" a pinch of sugar and cinnamon from my existing stock, using my seasonings "allowance" along with a few raisins from my raisin ration, and boom, I had a decent breakfast that probably cost about 20 cents. It held me over to lunch pretty well. ▼

Lunch. A ramen noodle stew of sorts. Delicious and very hearty! A lot of ingredients here--ramen noodles, 2/3 cup brown rice, 1/3 cup pinto beans, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, and one egg prepared egg-drop style. 1/3 of a spicy ramen seasoning packet along with a few dashes of season-all. It really hit the spot! ▼

Dinner. Rice, bean and carrot taquitos! These are amazingly simple and delicious. Used about 2/3 cup of cooked pinto beans to make re-fried beans, 1/3 cup of brown rice, and a few slices of carrot. Microwave 3 corn tortillas in damp paper towels to make them pliant. Baste the tortillas with canola oil. Then fill the tortillas with the ingredients, wrap and flip, placing onto cookie sheet. Bake in the oven at 500F/260C for 8 minutes. Presto! Add pasta sauce sparingly and season with season-all. Absolutely delicious meal, for about 30-40 cents total. ▼

Dessert. Remember my frozen banana slices? Took a couple of those out, added raisins on top and sprinkled with a few dashes of cinnamon from my seasonings allowance, and, dang, these were little bursts of paradise in my mouth! Like ice cream or Japanese mochi! Seriously a major treat! ▼

I really appreciate your support. The blog is getting a lot of attention already--thank you for helping to raise awareness! I'm drinking tons of water and staying busy to keep my mind off of the hunger and cravings. The food looks great and is tasty, but the overall calories are pretty scarce. However, so far I'm doing great.

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! Currently at $25 of my $10,000 goal! First step: let's get to one scholarship: just $475 to go!

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!