Thirty Days on A-Dollar-A-Day: Closing Reflections

It has now been three weeks since I ended my 30 day, dollar-a-day fast.  It has taken me all three weeks to begin to feel energetically normal again.  I am impressed with the deep impact on my body of 30 days of poor and inadequate nutrition.  Imagine the impact of that kind of sustenance 365 days a year!  I am also impressed with how much I waste and how indulgently and even carelessly I eat.  It’s hard not to in this culture: restaurant portions are oversized; parties are designed so that we over eat; and eating to excess is the way we often enjoy ourselves.  I am not saying we should never indulge – there is a time to party and feast – but all of the time?  I am determined to make some small change to keep before me the awareness of how many people go hungry every day while I have more than enough. I believe that awareness can lead to change.  We cannot stay aware of the great imbalance between those of us who have far more than we need for food, including nutritional content, and those who don’t get enough calories much less nutritional sustenance every day and not do something about it.  I believe that as human beings made in the image of God, we have creative possibilities before us that we have not even begun to imagine or explore, but it starts with awareness.  I am committing to eating on a dollar a day once a month to remind myself and to then contribute what I would have spent on food that day to Together in Hope for Jessica’s Table in the Philippines.  What about you?  I also want to do this once a year in some way – perhaps for only a week or two with the same commitment – to contribute what I would have spend on food to Jessica’s Table to feed hungry children.  Will you join me?  

The work in the Philippines continues and lives and communities are being transformed.  We still need your help to continue the work, so just because my 30 day fast is over doesn’t mean that the giving has to end.  My Filipino god-daughter, Zion, is inspiring me to find creative ways to increase my giving beyond what I think I can do.  Maybe she will inspire you too. Zion turned 7 this past Saturday, September 21.  Zion and her parents and younger sister, live in Obando in a small “apartment.”  This apartment has three tiny rooms furnished with a king sized inch thick matt on the floor on which they all sleep, a sofa and a small table for eating.  Meals are a small scoop of rice and an even smaller portion of fish or fried pork when it is available.  By all material standards, they are poor.  When I was in the Philippines this past June, I stopped to visit for a couple of days and shared meals with them – I ate less there than I did on a dollar a day here.  Knowing that I would not be able to return for Zion’s birthday, I left a small amount of money with her parents so that they could buy her something special for her birthday.  When her parents told her that I had left some money for a birthday present and asked her what she wanted, here is what Zion said:  “I have everything that I need, but the children at the Hulo Day Care Center do not have enough food.  Could we buy food for them and take it to share with them and let that be my birthday present?”  Needless to say, I wept when I heard what she had done.  

My friend Bo Brackendorff got creative too – for his 60^th birthday, which was the same day as Zion’s birthday, he had a party and asked his friends not to bring presents but to instead give to Together in Hope to help the poor.  Way to go Bo! “Happy Birthday” and “thank you” from all of the children of Jessica’s Table.  Working Together in Hope, we can make a difference!  Won’t you join us?

"Nearing the Finish Line!" OR "Am I Just Now Coming Up to the Starting Block?"

As I have begun nearing the end of this 30 days of prayerfully eating on a dollar a day - with 3 wonderful feast days thrown in along the way - the image that came to mind was one of crossing the finish line of a race - soon it will be done.  Or will it?  We still have a long way to go if we are going to reach out goal of having 1000 people donate $50 in support of this fast.You can help with that by donating - we still have a long way to go if we are going to reach out goal of having 1000 people donate $50 so that we can fund life- changing work in the Philippines. Some of you have given more than $50 - thank you!  Some of you have given $50 - thank you!  Some of you have given what you could - thank you!  And some of you could not give, but you have supported me with your interest and your prayers.  Thank you!  You see, one of the key principles of Together in Hope is that we are all in this together.  When one of us hurts, we all hurt.  So we are all called to do our part - whatever that is.  It's not that we all have to do a lot or even the same thing - we just have to do what we can - if we all do what we can, we can end poverty.  I believe that!

I believe that God is big enough to enable us to end poverty."Impossible!" you say? Yes, it is impossible - in our own strength - but I serve a God who raised Jesus from the dead - the same Jesus who taught his disciples to pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven...." I don't think those were idle words.  I believe Jesus meant that we were to pray that prayer seriously, with not only the expectation that it would happen, but  also the understanding that God would use us to do it. We still have lots of work to do to get the job done. That is why I think "the finish line" is probably the wrong image - we are just getting started; in fact, I am not sure that I have even left the starting block.  I'd like to be finished; to be able to check this one off my list, but we are not done.

As a Christian, the words of Jesus have a lot of authority for me.  Jesus had a lot to say about poverty and our part in addressing it. So did the Hebrew prophets in what Christians call the Old Testament.  In fact, Jesus did not just talk about poverty and the poor, he became one of the poor.  When he touched them, he did not just heal their spirits, he healed their bodies and restored their lives to wholeness in body, mind and spirit.  He also addressed the wholeness of entire systems and communities - that is about justice.  If we are going to end poverty, we are going to have to do the same.

Why is it that the President of the World Bank, who has declared that ending poverty is not only possible, but that it is a moral imperative, is leading this challenge instead of the church?  Do you know how many Christians there are in the world?  And then when you add people of other faiths who also understand that we have a moral imperative to end poverty, the numbers are endless - if we all lived into that imperative, we would get the job done. So why aren't we?

I hope I don't check this off my list when this is done - "Did that, great experience, now back to my life as it was - I crossed the finish line and I'm done."  I pray that I don't do that.  Oh, I will eat more and I am looking forward to it.  In fact, I will eat and enjoy meals with many of you who are my dear friends and family. But, I hope that this experience has touched me at a deep enough level that the poor will be present with me even as I "feast" at every meal. (Believe me, after eating rice and beans for 30 days, I can assure that every meal that we eat is a feast in taste, quantity and nutritional value! ) I pray that it will cause me to live differently in the world, even if just a little, so that others too can feast at God's table of plenty - in body, mind and spirit.

You all probably know the story of the little boy and the starfish.  One day a man was walking on the beach where thousands of starfish had been stranded.  He saw a young boy picking up one starfish at a time and throwing it back into the ocean.  When he asked the little boy what he was doing, the boy said simply that he was throwing the starfish back.  The man said, "Son, there are thousands of starfish on the beach, what difference could you possible make?"  To which the little boy replied, "Well, it makes a difference to this one!"

I would add to that story, this line,  "And sir, if you helped me go into town and round up some volunteers, together, we could make a difference for all of them!"

Together, working in hope, we can make a difference for all of them - won't you join me?  

You can donate here: http://togetherinhope.org/Corporate_Sponsorship.html

Looking for Energy

This is getting hard.  I am in my last week.  I think my stomach has adjusted to less food so that I don't feel hungry most of the time.  But trying to find the energy to get things done is getting hard.  Simply put - this just simply is not enough food.  I am done in a week, but others throughout the world - even here in Houston - are not done in a week and live this way all of the time.  No wonder kids don't perform well in school - how could they?  These are old numbers - from 2001 - I bet they are worse now with the worldwide economic crisis that has impacted not only the United States, but economic markets all over the world - but here they are:

The most commonly used definition of global poverty is the absolute poverty line set by the World Bank. Poverty is set at an income of $2 a day or less, and extreme poverty is set at $1 a day or less.

As of 2001, 1.1 billion people, or 21% of the 2001 world population, had incomes less than the World Bank’s ‘$1 a day’ line for extreme poverty. 2.7 billion people had incomes less than the World Bank’s ‘$2 a day’ line for poverty. While this is a decline from past years (in 1981, there were 1.5 billion people in extreme poverty), it still means that almost one-half of the world’s population lives in poverty

Let me tell you, after eating on a dollar a day for over three weeks now (with two feast days in the middle of that)  you cannot function well on a dollar a day - even if a dollar does buy more in the Philippines than it does in the U.S.  I don't think, after experiencing this myself, you can function well on $2 a day.  It's unjust that half of the world's population has to do that, when there is enough food - some of us just over-consume - lots of us .  If all children are created in the image of God, then all children have a divinely given right to reach their full potential and we have a moral imperative to try to make sure they do - it can't be done on $1 or even $2 a day - you can't stay healthy, you can't develop normally (all my brain and other body cells have developed - if I was a child, this process would be hurting that development) , and you can't focus or find the energy to perform at full potential.  So what are we going to do about it?

You can support me here: http://togetherinhope.org/Corporate_Sponsorship.html your donation will help those living in extreme poverty in the Philippines. Thank you.

What if "each one took one"

I am blessed to have lots of loving family, friends and colleagues who care about my health.  They are all interested in this campaign and how I am faring on $1 a day.  In fact, more accurately, they are all quite concerned that I might be risking my health by eating on a dollar a day for 30 days (with 4 feast days spread throughout). Nutritionally, it is a close call, but I am healthy and this will be over in a couple of weeks. So, unlike those actually living in poverty, I am going to be fine - a little bit skinnier perhaps, but I can make it up when I am done with this fast. The poor cannot - their health is impacted. Some of my friends and family have asked - "well if we bought it for you, it would not cost you anything so you could eat it right?"  Not really - that would be cheating, I think.  But their suggestion, combined with their concern for my health, did give me an idea - What if each one of us decided to be concerned about the nutritional well-being of just one person living in poverty in the world and made it our business to provide enough food for the both of us - "each one takes one".  I am a United Methodist pastor and there are over 7 million United Methodists in the United States.  Some of those United Methodist members are probably living in poverty, but even if we took two-thirds of that number, it would be  4.6 million people - what if 4.6 million United Methodists in this country made it their business to make sure that one other person in the world living in poverty had enough to eat for their lifetime - that would change 4.6 million lives!  And then if you spread that to all the members of the other Christian churches in the United States and then to other religions, whose members also care about the dignity and God-breathed sacredness of every life, and even if only 2/3rds of that number were wealthy enough to support the nutritional needs of one other person -  we would make a huge dent in changing the world.  That is the idea of Together in Hope -  we all have a part to do and if we all just do our part - we don't have to do it all, we can impact the well-being of the whole.  Together, we could change the world - it is certainly something to  think about.  

Calories Count

I was at the low end of my healthy weight when I started this fast of eating on a dollar a day a little over 2 weeks ago.  I have lost weight that I don't need to lose, even with 2 feast days included. (Unlike my brothers and sisters who don't eat this way by choice, I can gain it back in a couple of weeks when this is over - they can't.)  How do kids grow when they don't have enough to eat?  I am hungry most of the time - my body feels like its "eating itself" looking for calories.  It makes me understand why people with few resources eat lots of white rice, potatoes, and heavy carbs, even though they don't have much nutritional value - they fill you up and they have calories!  When buying highly nutritional food takes most of your income and means you don't get enough calories, you have to buy the other stuff just to make it.  No wonder kids struggle in school.  How can you sleep or pay attention when your body is struggling to find enough caloric energy to just maintain? There is enough food in the world - we have to find a way to share it.

Blowing a Whole Day's Budget on a Banana

I am hungry tonight.  It's my own fault.  I had my breakfast portion of rice and beans before I headed off to an all day seminar.  I had with me my container of rice and beans so that I would not be tempted to eat the box lunch that I knew they would have for me.  I stopped for gas about 45 minutes later and there was a banana sitting on the counter - $.069.  My body really wanted the banana (nutritionally that is probably accurate);  My taste buds wanted the banana and my stomach wanted the banana.  The banana won.  That meant that I was done eating for the day.  Not a good choice - or was it?  It does mean that I am hungry tonight, but I think my body probably did need something in that banana and it tasted so so good!  Today made me think about  times when I have seen the poor eating things that seemed a bit extravagant and perhaps unfairly wondering why they would be so foolish as to spend what little money they had to eat that.  After today, I think I at least have a different perspective.  My take on it?  Sometimes we need to indulge in foolish extravagance.  When life is tough all the time; when every day is a struggle to just get by; when every penny has to be counted day after day after day; sometimes life requires that we blow it on a banana - tomorrow we may go back to struggling every day to make it on a little rice and a few beans; Tonight we might be hungry; but for one moment, we knew the pleasure of a delicious banana. That was a good thing.     

Joining In

A friend called me today and said, "Diane, I don't want to just write a check - how can I participate?"  We talked and here is what she decided to do.  I think its a great idea - so feel free to join her.  My friend Mireya is going to try to eat for a dollar for as many meals as she can, maybe just one day, maybe just one meal for several days.  Whatever she saves by eating for just a $1 that day or meal, she is going to donate.  Even if you don't want to eat for $1 or can't for many good reasons, health being one of them - DO NOT do anything like this unless you are healthy enough to do it without harming yourself - you could eat a little less than you normally do and donate whatever you saved by eating less.  The most important thing, however, beyond NOT DOING ANYTHING THAT WOULD CAUSE YOU HARM, is to eat intentionally and with gratitude for all the hands that brought that food to our table and to pray for those who as we eat, don't know when they will eat again - not as a guilt thing, but to help us stay conscious and because I believe that God answers prayer.  

FEAST DAY

This Sunday was feast day.  Since I got to feast, I thought I'd let you feast too - with some pictures of these wonderful kids with whom we have the privilege of working in the Philippines.  Enjoy!

What to do When the Beans Go Bad

On Thursday evening I opened the refrigerator to an awful smell.  What could that be?  It smelled rotten.  I looked to see if there were any old leftovers that my son and husband had not eaten and could not find any.  I was stumped, until I opened the pot of beans to prepare my evening meal.  I had prepared a weeks worth to make sure that I stayed within my $1 a day limit for the whole week. But the beans had gone bad.  I didn't know that black beans could go bad that quickly in a refrigerator.  I had brown rice, a few tomatoes and a little bit of greens for dinner, but no beans.  I survived it, but what does one do when all one really has is $1 a day for food and you've spent your whole week's worth and the beans go bad?  The poor with whom we work in the Philippines don't have refrigerators and so how do you store things without risking the little food security that you have? For us who don't have to deal with that kind of reality, if the beans go bad, you just go get more beans.  But what if you couldn't? 

Eating Out of the Trash

 I am 6 days into this "fast" of eating on $1 a day and now that I am feeling a bit better (not so sick anymore), I am getting hungry - I can't say that its the "I'm truly starved for nutrients" kind of hunger - I am not sure I would even know what that was - the closest thing I can imagine to what that might feel like would be times of hunger when I was pregnant. Toward the end of my pregnancies, there were times when I felt like I was in a "hostile takeover" situation and if I did not eat at that moment, it was not going to be pretty! As those close to me can attest, when I said, "I need eat," I meant NOW and it had an urgent feel to it.  But the hunger I am feeling in the midst of this is not even that - its a "my stomach is growling" kind of hunger - uncomfortable, but not life-threatening.  And I know a reprieve is coming - Saturday night - Sunday night is a 24 hour feast day.  But right now, I feel hungry a good part of the day.  Yesterday, in the midst of my feeling "hungry," I surprised even myself as I watched someone throw half of a perfectly good hamburger into the trash.  As I watched, I thought to myself, "I could eat that.  It would taste good and it has lots of protein."  I didn't do it, but I thought about it! Maybe for the first time ever, I can imagine a scenario in which I would be willing to eat out of the garbage.  I don't want to ever have to do that  - so why do I find it acceptable that others have to do that?  That one is going to take some chewing on....  

What if I didn't have a choice?

A friend of mine asked me today, "How are you feeling?"  I told him that I was feeling fine except for this this bad cold or virus - whatever it is.  He then asked me if I thought that my fast had brought on this cold.  It didn't - it just happened to coincide with it - they started together.  So then he said to me, "Well maybe you should delay this until you are well and then start." Believe me, I have thought about that, but people who actually have to live on this much food don't get that choice and somehow they manage to survive and most of the time even get well.  That is pretty amazing to me.  So, it just seems like I need to stick this out as long as the fast is not making my condition worse - its not.  The choice to get off of it if I need to for health or other reasons does kind of change the dynamic though - I have a choice about all this - that makes it much more tolerable.  What if I didn't? And why is it okay that there are people in this world of such abundance who don't have that choice?  I am definitely guilty of the twin sins of over-consumption and waste - When I look at what I am eating and think about how much food I throw away in a week - people could live on that food. I am not advocating cleaning one's plate because people somewhere in the world are going hungry - my eating more than I need does not help them.  I am, however, advocating awareness about over-consumption  so that we begin to pay attention to the distribution of resources and consider what could change the imbalance so that all of God's children and creatures have what they need.

That does not mean that we cannot feast from time to time.  You will notice that I have built in a feast day every 7th day - partly so I can survive this and do the things I have to do in the midst of it - but also because the poor actually do that in the Philippines and its usually through the church - on Sundays everyone brings what they have - whether its a lot or just a little and everyone eats and for that meal at least, everyone has enough, with enough to send home with those who will struggle to make it through the next week.  It is extravagance in the best sense of the word. God's wonderful extravagance for all, given through all by doing their part.  I think that is cool. Perhaps we could learn something from them. 

Day Four - How Do Sick People Get Well on this Much Food?

When I was a kid, my grandmother used to say "Starve a cold, feed a fever."   I don't know whether or not that was good advice, but I can tell you this, I don't know how people, especially children, who are not healthy to begin with because of lack of nutrition, get well when they get sick and are eating on a dollar's worth of food a day.  I feel terrible - not because of the amount of food I am eating but because of this virus I have picked up.  It laid me flat for two days and even today, working was a struggle.  I  was healthy and well-nourished when I got sick so I don't think my eating less is causing me to stay sick longer, but it definitely has challenged my energy level - trying to function and get well at the same time takes energy and I would think at least adequate nutrition.  I am getting adequate nutrition for a short term fast.  I have the luxury of actually choosing brown rice with far more nutrients than the nutrient depleted white stuff that most of the poor in the Philippines eat and I'm eating beans that are high in protein.  And this is a short term fast - it will end.What do you do when you can't choose nutritious food, even in limited quantities?  What do you do when the "fast" has no end? I know this is short term and so its tolerable and I have plenty of clean water with which to flush my system - my body will do its work - but what if I didn't have plenty of clean water and my body was already worn down from just fighting to survive each day? When there are no reserves from which to draw? 

Struggling Through Day 2

Yesterday was a tough day.  I have been traveling a lot and woke up yesterday with what felt like flu symptoms with diarrhea.  Not fun!  I had the luxury of staying in bed all day and drinking lots of clean water to stay hydrated - I don't have to buy clean water.  I can get it out of any public or house faucet.  It made me stop and think about those in the Philippines who have the choice of drinking non-potable water or having to buy it - thus reducing what they have available for purchasing food and other things.  I also thought about the fact that I can go to a pharmacy and buy something to help with my flu symptoms and the diarrhea - which I did.  I also did not need to be on the street selling products or otherwise trying to earn today's income so that I and my family could eat - I actually get a day off and a paid sick day if needed. I wept (yes, probably partly because I felt bad, but also because of the realization of the great privilege in which I live and how much I take it for granted.)  Thank you to all of you who are praying with me.  I am a little better today.  The diarrhea has stopped.  I still have a bad head cold and cough but I have enough and time again today to rest and clean water with which to stay hydrated.  Thanks be to God! 

What Does $1 a Day Look Like?

I went shopping last night for a week's worth of food for $6 - that was a challenge.  I can't imagine how families with only $1 a day to spend per person figure out what to buy.  Here is what I will be eating for $0.99 a day this week:  1 cup of cooked brown rice three times a day, 1/2 cup cooked black beans three times a day, 6 cherry tomatoes and 1/2 cup of mixed greens three times a day - that gives me protein, carbohydrates, some vitamin C and some leafy greens.  I still have to figure out how to get some calcium.  (I bought bulk rice and beans which cut down on the cost and bought mixed greens and tomatoes that were getting close to going bad so they were marked down for quick sale.  Here is the breakdown of costs per day:

3 cups cooked rice:  $.018
1.5 cups cooked black beans: $.018
6 cherry tomatoes: $0.34
1.5 cups mixed greens: $0.29

Total: $0.99 per day
 

 

Day One - Eating on A Dollar A Day

It's Friday morning, July 26, 2013.  I have to admit that I enter this fast with some degree of trepidation:  Can I do it and stay healthy?  Can I do it and maintain the exercise routine that I need to maintain to be ready to run the Tyler Rose Run Half or Full Marathon in October to help raise money for free immigration clinics? Do I have the discipline to do it?  What do I do when I am asked out to eat for a business lunch or other important meeting? How do I explain without offending people or seeming puffed up? And finally, will it make any difference?  Will people give? Will they care? As I struggled with all of those questions this morning, I was reminded by the Spirit, that this is God's work, not mine.  I offer it as a prayer that I and all of us will learn to live more simply and as faithful stewards of the incredible abundance which is ours as Americans, so that all of God's children throughout the world can live with sufficiency and thrive as God intended for all people and creatures of the earth. And so I begin, trusting that my efforts will not be in vain and will in fact make a difference, starting with making a difference in me.  I invite you to pray with me and give, if you can.

Diane (or as my friends and family in the Philippines call me), "Pastor Di"