by Gilda Sorella, Tasmania Generator
It’s all over, well, it is for us at least.
Luckily, we get to return to ‘normal’ lifestyles, to feed our bellies and return to our everyday ways. Hopefully we have gained from this experience a very tiny snapshot into what a person living on $2 a day experiences. Of course, this experience is limited by the fact that we still had many of the luxuries of our everyday lives (hot showers, transportation & heaters in this cold weather!). I don’t believe that we should never feel guilty for being blessed with opportunity. In fact, we are using this opportunity to help others who aren’t in the same position as us. So for that reason – a massive congratulations to everyone who made it through the week (even to those who had a few extra crackers here and there!). Because to attempt to do so is to acknowledge the 1.4 billion people out there who have no choice but to live in the hungry, desperate and despairing circumstances of poverty.
Furthermore – Generators should feel ecstatic about their fundraising efforts, and moreover, for adding fuel to the conversation about poverty. These are two key ways by which we can see extreme poverty ended in our lifetime – and together we have taken an impressive step towards realising that goal.
Tonight at Generate we had a group reflection about our experience of Live Below the Line. There were a variety of thoughts and opinions but a few that many of us shared. Firstly, a greater appreciation for food and a realisation of just how much food we actually waste (ie. gets left in the back of the fridge and forgotton about). I always seem to have left over food on my plate which goes into the bin (but now goes to my new chickens) – but during LBL I was scraping every last grain of rice and really treasuring each mealtime – and I must say appreciation was a valuable lesson to learn.
I was also struck by just how much your body and mind are affected by a lack of food. By the end of only the first day, I felt completely flat, depressed and lifeless. Imagine the feeling of hopelessness comes with being unable to lift yourself out of these circumstances! Being unable to send your children to school, unable to feed them and unable to treat them with medicine when they are sick would be a degrading and heartbreaking thing to live with every single day.
For this I have to commend Generators for their amazing efforts. I have seen many friends (and myself) massively progress through the fundraising. Most of us started off a bit daunted by the task of asking others for donations – and by our team goal of $20,000! However, at the moment we collectively are at approx $18,500 and I have no doubt by the end of the week we’ll have smashed our goal!
The fundraising process was also amazing for practising our pitching and communication skills, and for further honing our knowledge about LBL (some of us were asked pretty tricky questions about annual financial statements etc!!).
Generators everywhere should be extremely proud for being an inspiration to their friends, family and communities. This year looks like the most successful LBL so far – and that is due to the awesome efforts of everyone involved.
Congratulations on a fantastic year of LBL. I hope that the experience opened your eyes and hearts to the experiences of those living in extreme poverty. We can all look forward to seeing the good that our fundraising efforts will do in PNG.
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