Well, I cheated.
When my throat became
sore over a 2-hour period, I caved and bought a feast of veggies. (Fun fact:
broccoli has more vitamin C than oranges do!). And thus ended my living on
$1.50 a day.
Only 1% of my year was spent eating at
an extreme poverty level and here are my main take-aways:
1. Cognitive funk
I was afraid to drive because I
couldn’t focus sometimes. Clarity came and went. This did not help as I was
reviewing for GREs and my calculus course. It’s not like I was always dreaming
of or distracted by food (although there were many times where this was the
case). Instead, I just didn’t have enough energy and my brain and body just
slowed down.
When we were in Haiti, many of the
students suffered from hunger. Their eyes were dull, they were quiet and it was
a clear struggle to pay attention. It was especially evident when one of them
asked for additional tutoring because you saw it up close.
For safety’s sake, mission team was
well-fed and taken care of, and so we never truly understood their school
experience. Now, I get it—kind of.
2. Lethargy and Weakness
I was not lazy. I was weak. If someone
doesn’t understand how hunger affects people, I’m fairly sure he might mistake
someone living in poverty as “lazy.” Remember, humans are amazing creatures,
but we don’t operate at optimum levels without the right fuel.
Despite this lower level of
functioning, I was still accomplished quite a bit. Tasks just generally took
longer because I moved slowly and required frequent breaks. Still, I was still
productive.
3. Health
If this were really survival of the
fittest, I would likely be squashed. Headaches on the first day and full-on
sick by Day 5? Yup, I’d die.
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