Solidarity Challenge

Our church is doing something this week called the Solidarity Challenge.  Here are the main points.  Half of the worlds population eats on less then two dollars a day.  Furthermore, what they have to eat is very limited.  That comes out to basically a small bowl of oatmeal, a cup of beans and rice for lunch and dinner and a chicken McNugget sized piece of meat for the day.  In order to feel true compassion for that overwhelming population, we have been challenged to live the same way over the next 5 days. 

 There is a secondary objective as well.  Our church helps support a school in Haiti by supplying resources for students, including materials for school as well as meals.   That costs money.  So, whatever money  we would normally spend on groceries this week, we will donate to our school in Haiti. 

Our church has done this before, while I was sick and waiting for my transplant, so I did not participate.  I will attempt to do so this time.  I say attempt because I have some concerns about being able to complete the entire 5 day challenge.

First of all, the challenge goes through Saturday night.  My wife and I will be attending a wedding in Orlando on Saturday, and it would be rude for me to not eat the dinner they are supplying.  Right?  But I am getting ahead of myself. 

I have serious doubts as to whether or not I will even make it to Saturday night.  If you have been reading this blog for any amount of time, you have learned several things about me, one of which is that I like my food.  I love my food.  It is more then just eating for enjoyment though.  I am always hungry, and therefore I am always eating.  I know I am not getting any sympathy from anyone, especially considering the fact that I still cannot gain any weight.  (Please do not send hate mail.)

 The fact of the matter is that eating a bowl of oatmeal plus 2 cups of rice and beans with small piece of meat is about 900 calories.  I usually eat that amount of calories by 11:00 AM.   Heck, I eat half of that by 8:00 AM.  When I get hungry it is more then just hunger.  I get stomachaches, light headed and tired.  Really, really tired.

So I am going into this with the attitude of sticking with is as long as I can.  I am going to try to survive on rice and beans, but if it gets to the point that I feel like I am going to faint or pass out, I am going to have to break down and bust out the Snickers Bar (I’ll have to keep one on me in glass case that reads “FOR EMERGENCY USE ONLY”).  

We’ll see how long I can last. 

Anyone want to take a guess?