Chester trio of students take on poverty issues for Oxfam project

Dec 9 2010 by Allison Dickinson, Chester Chronicle

Chester trio of students take on poverty issues for Oxfam project

THREE students gave up modern comforts for a week to highlight the plight of poor people across the world.

Sneha Singh, 22, of Victoria Road in Chester, who grew up in Mumbai, spent just £1 per day on food.

Sneha says: “The challenge was my way of connecting with people on both ends of the spectrum – those living in poverty as well as those that need to be educated about it.”

Emily Gill, 19, from Vernon Road, gave up her opinions.

“I think it is unfair that so many women have no right to decide how they live their lives and society and often their husbands get control,” she said.

“I gave up my voice and my right to an opinion and couldn’t defend my views!”

Kay Henderson, 20, from Lorne Street eschewed chocolate and luxury foods.

She said: “It was surprisingly difficult, actually! I think next time I will choose something more challenging but even so, it was more difficult than I thought it would be.”

Oxfam’s What does poverty mean to you? survey was an online and offline experiment across the north of England to get people to rethink their ideas about poverty.

Participants all did something that they thought symbolised poverty for just one week and tested themselves to see if they had what it takes to stick to their task.