Project One Bowl of Rice

(photo by georgereyes)

One bowl of rice isn’t much to eat.  Usually its enough to accompany beans, chicken, or a slab of meat; but a bowl of rice by itself…. ummmm, not so much!

Now imagine that bowl of rice being the only thing you eat ALL DAY!

Hard to even think of, but to about half the population of this world we live on, that’s ALL they get!

I remember when I was little and hungry, I would use the phrase, “I’m starving!” (ok… I still use it today) The truth be told, I have NO idea what starving is really like.  Most of us from West don’t.  I don’t think it’s a BAD thing that we don’t know the feeling of starvation, but I also don’t think it’s a GOOD thing that we don’t think about those who actually are.

The difference between sympathy and empathy is this: understanding through experience.  Until we ‘walk a mile’ in someone else’s shoes, we cannot empathize with them, only sympathize.  It’s something I battle with on a daily basis, literally seeing starving families all around me, but only on a sympathy level.

So, I’ve decided for ONE WEEK, I am going to see what it’s like to empathize.  I am going to only eat ONE BOWL of rice a day throughout the upcoming 7 days.

Sure, I know it’s not the same as truly living in poverty and not having a choice about how much to eat.  I can easily choose to give up and eat more during the day.  This isn’t  a special diet or trying to starve myself for poverty’s sake, its more about putting myself in someone else’s shoes for a week in order to gain a better perspective of what true poverty is. I know its not going to save the world, or even a portion of it, but even if it brings an awareness to myself and others through the experience, it will have served its purpose.

Hopefully, I’ll be blogging about how it’s going and what I’m learning throughout the week, so stay tuned.  And if you want to join me, even if only for a day, please feel free! That would be awesome!

Here’s to ONE BOWL OF RICE A DAY!

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