This spring 25,000 people worldwide (including myself!) took the challenge to eat and drink on $1.75 a day for 5 days! We are lived Below the Line so others can rise above it. The initiative was set to raise $4.4 million for the world’s leading anti-poverty organizations.

Keeping in mind that living on $1.75 a day is a daily reality for millions of people around the world, poverty isn’t just about food, It’s about freedom! Mother Teresa once said, “Poverty doesn’t only consist of being hungry for bread, but rather it is a tremendous hunger for human dignity”. I am passionate about addressing poverty in all its distressing disguises, and as such decided to join this cause to help raise money for disaster relief, community development and child sponsorship all over the developing world.

Facebook contacts followed me as I downsized my budget and spent five days getting a glimpse of life from below the extreme poverty line– in my attempt to really fight poverty by truly understanding it! I decided to share my daily journals of the experience here…

Day 1: The day is almost over, I have eaten my daily $1.75 worth of food with mucho gusto, but mistakenly attended my daily yoga class... I have no energy, and my tummy wants more food...all resolved by going to sleep early. Nite nite

Day 2: I feel recharged and ready to face my next day...sans yoga this time. On the menu today is:
Breakfast: half a cup of oatmeal with half a pear and cinnamon to taste, with water to drink $ 0.40
Lunch: 1 cup of Chicken noodle soup sans the chicken and a piece of dark chocolate $ 0.70
Dinner: 1 tomato, 1 mini cucumber, cilantro salad with a tiny bit of oil and lemon for zest! $ 0.65
Feeling a bit lethargic but this can and will be done!

Day 3: I'm hungry now. I am trying to minimize my daily activity to save energy, as it is needed more than ever today, or perhaps it’s just psychosomatic, either way did I mention I’m hungry? On the menu today:
Breakfast: half cup of cereal and half a pear $ 0.40
snack: 3 almonds $ 0.15
Lunch: half cup of chili with half a tomato $ 0.60
Dinner: half ounce of fish and 1 ounce lettuce salad $ 0.55

Day 4: Its almost over, and the profound realizations just beginning. I am so grateful for each and every explosively flavorful piece of food I put in my mouth. I have never experienced such joy, no, EUPHORIA over eating one piece of dark chocolate! Oh and have I mentioned my insatiable love for water these days?  

On today's menu:
Breakfast: half cup of plain yogurt with sprinkle of trail mix $ 0.50
Lunch: 1 cup of Noodle soup with two pieces of broccoli $ 0.50
Dinner: 1/2 cup quinoa with sprinkle of veggies $ 0.75

Day 5: Omgoddess!!! It's the last day! I am salivating like one of Pavlov's dogs to the ring of a bell (the bell being tomorrow in my case lol). This has been a real eye opening experience for me. I have realized that a portion need not be heaping to be satisfying and this goes across the boards with every type of consumption I have abundant access to. Although I probably won’t revert back to the amount of daily dietary consumption I convinced myself I needed prior to this challenge, I will increase my consumption enough to get back into yoga practice and boy is that a relief! On the menu today:
Breakfast: half a wrap with 1 slice of cooked turkey $ 0.70
Lunch: half cup of Buddha mix quinoa $ 0.50
Dinner: veggie egg omelet (1 egg) $ 0.55

In the wise words of Immanuel Kant, “We are not rich by what we possess but by what we can do without.”

This experience just scratches the surface of what we can all do to transform our mere knowledge of poverty to a profound understanding of its reality! Reduce our consumption, cultivate amazing appreciation, and build enduring compassion for those who live this challenge everyday.  

Love compassionately,
-Kristina