The simple answer to the series of questions regarding what would the challenge have been like if we had to cope with being a parent, transportation issues, health conditions, WEATHER, etc…the simplest answer is I could not have survived.
During the “week” (remember I was one that bailed), I keep thinking what if I had to travel to a grocery store or to the Food Bank, what if I had to some how figure out how to work all day AND try to get to the Food Bank…what if I needed to use my $5 on a pharmacy dispensing fee for medicine for a sick child or an elderly parent…what if just wanted to escape feeling hopeless, what would I have spent my $5 on…
As far as the physical and psychological impact of the “week”, I had digestive problems, I was extremely tired, I had a lot of difficulty sleeping (might have been the amount of coffee I drank to fill up on…coffee was a pantry item for me), I was grumpy, and I didn’t have a lot of energy for being a good friend. I kept myself somewhat isolated so I wouldn’t have to deal with some of the challenges I faced i.e. social outings where I was to bring food, etc.
I chose not to go to the Friendship Inn (don’t get me wrong its a great program) but I wondered if “my pride” would (had I been doing the challenge for real) have prevented me from reaching out and asking for help. I don’t know. I certainly know I made bad choices during the week that I paid for later…just wanting to escape the reality of it all (i.e. not rationing my milk pretending I had enough to last the whole week).
What kept me going (OK kept me going almost to the end) was knowing I wasn’t alone! I got to hear others’ stories via the blog and so I felt included somewhere during the week. It helped almost negate all the other places, situations where I felt excluded…
Not too put too fine a point on it…but a famous French sociologist stated…when inequality becomes too great, the idea of community becomes impossible! We know that if people feel included in community life we all benefit from such things as safer neighbourhoods, reduced crime.
And the average Joe and Josephine (my favourite couple) knows this. When the United Way did communtiy conversations with hundreds of citizens including 155 individual interviews from people living in every neighbourhood in Saskatoon, what we heard is that people don’t want a divided city (east west) they wanted a city that bridges.
One final quote from Jean Vanier..belonging does for human beings what soil does for plants: it nurtures us and enables us to grow and blossom…when we feel as though we belong, we are in community.
Thanks again to everyone for the opportunity!