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Living below the line – you got what it takes?
Wednesday, August 22, 2012 • Marino Harker-Smith
FIVE days and $11.25 for food and drink — that’s the challenge. Have you got what it takes to Live Below the Line?

The countdown is on until the Global Poverty Project Live Below the Line challenge next month, a challenge to live on $2.25 a day, or $11.25 total, for five days from September 24 to 28.

Former All Black Jonah Lomu has already said he will give it a go.

The big 1.96-metre Lomu is downsizing his diet and his family are coming along for the ride, planning to live off just $2.25 a day each.

Gisborne district councillor Manu Caddie and youth worker Meredith Akuhata-Brown took the challenge last year and are keen to do it again this year.

Live Below the Line media campaign manager Patrick Rose said there was a good response to the challenge from Gisborne people.

Mr Rose was in town last week to get the community amped up about Live Below the Line, as well as promoting some of the other initiatives and other ways people could contribute to the cause.

It could be as simple as implementing Fair Trade into your shopping — that way you could be certain the producers received an adequate price for produce such as coffee beans, said Mr Rose.

“It’s a small thing but if every business in town did that it would have a real impact on reducing exploitation.”

Or you could enter the Live Below the Line film challenge.

Mr Rose said the film competition was running in conjunction with the challenge, with both experienced and first-time filmmakers invited to submit a short film up to 2:25 minutes long that deals with the issues of global poverty.

“Whether or not people can do the challenge, the main message is tackling global poverty.

“We’re a storytelling organisation — we try to get people to share their stories and experiences of extreme poverty,” he said.

Film submissions need to be received by September 7 and the winners will have their short film shown in Auckland during the challenge week.

“The movement began with Sir Bob Geldof’s Live Aid in the 1980s and we’re building on the success of that and expanding it.”

The Global Poverty Project initiative aims to raise awareness of the 1.4 billion people in the world living in extreme poverty.

The New Zealand equivalent of this line is $2.25 a day.

It has previously been held in the UK, US and Australia and was first held in New Zealand in 2011, raising $120,000 for affiliated charities to combat poverty.
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