Sydney Journo seeks life below the poverty line
Sydney journalist Dan Goldberg has just started living on $2 a day for an entire week, to understand and make a difference for those living in extreme poverty.
Dan Goldberg
Goldberg has raised more than $3500.
He writes: ”
| From May 16th-20th I’m going to live below the poverty line. Yup, I’ll be surviving off just $2 a day for all of my food…Frankly, I’m shitting myself. Firstly, I’m addicted to coffee. That’s out, at $3 a cup. Second, I don’t eat bleached cheap white bread. Looks like I don’t have a choice now. Third, I just bought a wee pastry from the bakery. $3.25. Gone. But that’s the point. We all gorge all the time, mostly subconsciously and totally oblivious to how fortunate we are.I’m not really asking for your dough, though $10 – the amount I’ll exist on for five days – wouldn’t even register in your debt column and I’d like to raise some money for charity. It’s not just that the world is a big place and one continent especially – Africa – is crying with poverty. But it’s here, on our doorstep in Oz, huddled in groups under bridges, rummaging through rubbish bins…I think it was Atticus Finch, in To Kill A Mocking Bird, who said something like “you cannot really understand something or someone until you walk in his shoes.”Next week I’m walking in the shoes of 1.4 billion people or so. Astonishing to think that that’s roughly a quarter of human civilisation. You do the maths. And then wonder how we geniuses can invent the iPad but can’t figure out how to feed fellow human beings. Go figure.Check www.livebelowtheline.org.au |
This isn’t going to be an easy week for dan – with a lack of choice, nutrition, flavour and convenience it will be a struggle. dan will get a very small insight into some of the challenges faced by those in extreme poverty – and through this effort help make sure that less people have to live like this every day.
Please take a minute to send a message of support to dan – and help them reach their target by forwarding the below message to anyone you know that might be able to support them.
By simply forwarding their fundraising page to a few friends, you could supersize their impact. Use the template below, or spread their URL around everywhere: .
If you’ve considered taking part in Live Below the Line yourself, it’s not too late! You can sign up at livebelowtheline.com.au and do the challenge any time between now and the end of June.
Thanks for your incredible support – thanks to your donation and donations from 20,000 others like you we’ve now raised over $800,000 for fighting poverty.
Well done Dan for raising awareness about poverty. Many single mums, older people, unemployed etc not only in our community but around OZ live below the poverty line.