My friend was honest when we were talking about this coming week, she said to me “But you can’t live on £2 a day!” That’s exactly it. At the outset I know it’s going to be impossible to do and it’d be easier to just donate my weekly living budget to the Cathedral and live ‘normally’. That way however won’t raise awareness of the poverty which surrounds us and specifically this week that which has been and is occurring in Sudan at the moment. Those who have lived with poverty may think my attempts laughable, so accept my apologies now. This is just really a diary of how I get on.
So, tonight I’m going to bed on an empty tummy, hungry but not hunger that possesses me. You know, I hadn’t expected things to go belly up quite so quickly, but I got up to go to Church this morning and then realised I’d no clothes ironed. I’m not really that organised you see. Decided that in an emergency situation I’d not have an iron and even if I had, today I’d rather use my electricity in another way. Thankfully I was able to dig something out to wear, not my usual colour co-ordinated self but I was warm. My ‘problems’ were happening because I deliberately have tried not to think ahead or plan this week very much. Think about it, in reality, if people were looting, burning and worse outside my door I wouldn’t get much warning would I? So, after very basic ablutions (good old nautical term from someone from Dromore!), about which I’ll spare you the details, I reached for the hair gel. Bad girl! Hair gel, perfume and the like would be the last thing I’d lift on my way out of a burning building. So off I went to church with ‘fluffy’ hair, feeling worse about not wearing perfume or having hair gel than I did about not having eaten.
After Church I had my only meal of the day which was very small, vegetables only and then off on a 2 hour walk. I was lucky to have a meal; food would probably not be available on day one of a crisis. Back to the walking. We’ve worked out that I need to walk 18 hours this week to have walked an equivalent distance to that which I would need to do to get to and from work. Yesterday myself and a couple of friends walked a total of 7 hours, plus the 2 today leaves 9 hours. I have allowed myself some water when I was thirsty and absentmindedly drank some juice I was offered after Church. I had one cup of coffee which I didn’t buy and at Youth Fellowship this evening I was confronted with toast and goodies which although offered I declined.
At the minute the prospect of the long walks isn’t something which bothers me. Often, I find that walking is a time when I usually clear my head and think over the troubles of the day and even start thinking about things I’m going to write about or talk about in Church. Today not a lot came as I concentrated on how the displaced people in Sudan felt as they made their way to Maridi Cathedral. I wonder though did they know where they were going when they set out, or did they simply arrive in Maridi and receive a Christian welcome from the parishioners? This week I really want to walk alongside my brothers and sisters in Christ who have found shelter in Maridi. As I walked today, I carried no water bottle, but neither did I have a baby on my back nor a bundle under my arm. I want to walk the miles this week in their shoes.
I wonder what the boss will think when I arrive in work tomorrow with unironed clothes? Will anyone even notice? And will my resolve be as strong tomorrow when I’m really hungry. Stay tuned.
“If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? “
1 John 3: 17 (NIV)