In terms of flavour, this week is set to be a bland one.
Why? because I decided I would try the refugee ration challenge, a week long food and fundraising challenge by non profit charity Act for Peace, where fundraisers eat food from a ration pack for a full week. The rations being the same food that refugees in a refugee camp in Jordan have to survive on.
And while my friends and family have been kind enough to donate enough money to my fundraising target to enable me to earn rewards including vegetables and spices to help counter act the blandness, my diet this week consists entirely of rice, lentils, chick peas, beans, sardines and vegetable oil.
Sounds delicious doesn’t it? I can tell you from the first lentil soup I made on the first day it wasn’t anything to write home about, neither was my lunch the following day of rice and sardines, or my hummus I made with the chick peas.
But the important question for a food lover such as myself, is why would I put myself through a full week of eating food that outside of rice I’d likely avoid at all costs?
Because I will never know what it’s like to live in a war zone or in a country racked by famine, I will never know what it’s like to have to flee my home out of fear.
And while I’m realistic that economic refugees exist, the overwhelming majority are those who have fled their homelands through fear of death or persecution.
A recent United Nations report declared that the number refugees who have been displaced from their their homelands numbered 65 Million in 2016.
I will never know this fear, but what the challenge offered me is a chance to get some insight into one aspect of a refugees life in a refugee camp.
I also signed up for this week of bland tasting nourishment because I wanted to do something physical, by that I mean, do something other than offer up my opinions on the topic on social media or in conversation with friends or family.
I don’t think undertaking the challenge makes me an expert or validates my views on the subject more than anyone else, but at least I’ll have the comfort of knowing I took action to improve the lives of those in a less fortunate situation than myself, as opposed to believing I’m creating change by stating my views and opinions on Facebook or Twitter.
The final reason was that by fundraising I hope that I have made the life of someone living off these borderline tasteless foods better in some way, as all funds raised go towards more food or even sanitary items for those living in refugee camps who survive on little more than the basic items in the ration pack and hope for a better life.
The challenge has not only given me an insight into how refugees survive in camps on rations but it has also made me all the more thankful to live in a safe and prosperous nation where at the end of this week I can eat whatever I like.
