It’s been a challenging week. 
For all those living below the line with me, there’s probably one word you’ve heard a little more often than others: ‘ Why?’. ‘Why are you eating that?’, ‘Why that amount?’, ‘Why don’t you just eat free food?’...
‘Why? ’It’s an important question - and it gets to the heart of what this week is about; of why we do this.
Why? Because 1.4 billion people in our world live below the extreme poverty line every day.
Our challenge this week only scratches the surface of the challenges faced by our neighbours who live with an equivalent amount to cover not only their food, but transport, clothing and rent as well... and often in a context where they can’t access basics like running water, schools or free health care.
Our challenge reminds us of how important it is to continue standing up for change. We've halved extreme poverty in the last three decades; together we can see an end to this injustice in a generation.
This week’s Federal Government announcement - that they will break their promise on foreign aid - serves as a stark reminder of the importance of public education and engagement with the issue of extreme poverty.
When you live below the extreme poverty line; you can’t afford for anything to go wrong.
Something as simple as illness can be life-changing - and can pull you, and your family, deeper into a cycle of poverty. That’s why it’s so important to invest in change.
Funds raised for the Global Poverty Project during Live Below the Line are helping us continue crucial work we’re doing to remove barriers that keep people in extreme poverty. They will help us expand our work addressing issues like preventable disease; lack of transparency, and unfair trade; and expand our work to inspire and inform through our presentation 1.4 Billion Reasons. (If you'd like to donate, you can do so here).
Just as importantly, your efforts this week can start conversations: in your kitchen, with your friends, in your community. And we know that conversations are powerful. When extreme poverty remains an abstract idea - something far away that your friends or family don’t understand, its easy to disconnect. You can make this issue tangible - and provide an easy way to connect people to the issue... you can inspire action.
To realise an end to the injustice of extreme poverty; we need social and political will. We need a movement.
You are part of this movement. Right now, you’re one of 10,000 Live Below the Line champions around the globe. In Australia, the UK and the US, our conversations, facebook posts, blog and photos are all connecting people to the injustice our generation is faced with, and an opportunity to support change.
A famous man once said to those standing against the injustice of Apartheid:
“Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”
Right now, you are sending out ripples of hope. |
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