Day 13./ so much further to go.

At the restaurant I work at, TGI Fridays, there has been many alterations to our menu and the new menu was due to be launched today. Last night, staff were expected to attend a session where we learnt about the new foods - but we also had to taste them.

Although I did not want to at all, it was expected of me to taste the food, as the training at Fridays is vigorous and we must be well informed and equipped with knowledge, to answer any questions or concerns customers have. Hence, I had a few bites of a new burger, some onion rings and fries, a taste of a new sandwich, some pasta and a taste of the new key lime pie. I tried to limit it, however, I was told that I was expected to taste the food, and that they would be disappointed if I did not.

~

Today, with the Victorian manager of LBL, we took a look at a venue that we may be holding our final event at. This was very exciting, but it was a long, tiring day. After much talk of food and sponsorships, I was starving and craving a burger. Steph even offered to buy me one as a celebration present but I couldn't do it. As I caught the bus, the girl sitting next to me was digging into delicious Lord of the Fries fries, with a tasty sauce on top. The smell was driving my crazy, however I did bring my lentils with me. As I started eating my lentils, the lack of choice, the lack of taste and the repetitiveness of my diet hit me hard.

Although I was filling up on lentils, no way at all, did they satisfy me. The rice and lentils tasted like nothing and the texture was bland. I had had the same thing for the past 13 days and it was too much. I couldn't even eat them anymore. All I wanted were the fries, but I was restricted and I couldn't. This is what poverty is. It is not a matter of choice, or a matter of 'wanting' or giving into ones desires. It is a complete, total restriction and wall around the way one lives. It is an inhumane way of living. And I feel bad complaining about my difficulty, as 1.4 billion people do this in much worse conditions than I am living in, every single day. It's not fair.

And still there are 17 days to go. I am not even half way there. I thought I was going okay, but I am not. Every day is difficult and although I am healthier and have lost weight (2 kgs since I started), it is not a way one should live.

However, I will keep battling because what I am experiencing is just a snippet of real poverty and I want to do as much as I possibly can to ensure I am contributing to ending extreme poverty.

You can too.

Sign up to LBL to undertake the challenge for the first week of August.

Sponsor me by credit card here, or email me for direct debit/cash inquiries.

For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.

~Nelson Mandela