Girls take bland fare for the cause

Most Australians are fortunate not to know about what it means to live tough, but for two local residents last week was all about eating below the poverty line.

For 16-year-old Karnup resident Asha Couch and 17-year-old Calista girl India Martin-Cogger, the week’s budget of $10 for the Live Below the Line initiative was a hard task.

Thankfully the girls teamed up with a few mates who pooled their money together to buy basic needs such as rice and cheap vegetables.

The aim was to live for $2 a day, for five days — but by day three most of the food had gone.

India said the food tasted bland, but she happily put up with the fare.

“I tried mixing flour and water together to make noodles — it looked great, but wasn’t very tasty,” she said.

Asha agreed, having made soup with just pumpkin and water.

“Even though I am hungry, the amount of food is OK. It’s just a challenge to make it taste good,” she said.

Last week’s challenge was not the first poverty-stricken adventure the teenagers had encountered together, after a trip to Manila in the Philippines late last year.

Asha said the two met when they bunked together for the two-week trip aimed at helping people less fortunate to overcome Third World disadvantages.

India said the trip opened her eyes to the reality of the world.

“I get angry when I see people waste food — don’t just take one bite of a perfectly good apple and then throw it away because you didn’t like how it tasted,” she said.

Asha said watching people waste food was heartbreaking, knowing how much it would be appreciated by the people she met in Manila.

“What I bought this week is way more than what they would get,” she said.

“A lot of Filipino people are incredibly happy with what they have and they make the most of it, but I don’t know how I could live that way.

“The mindset of Australians is wrong and the same goes for education.

“People here don’t appreciate the opportunity, but Filipinos don’t even have the choice — everyone should have the right to an education.”

This was the point of the Live Below the Line campaign. Together the girls were fundraising to build and better resource schools in Cambodia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea.

As of Thursday last week, Asha had raised $50 and India $144.

The Freddies group had raised $437, $70 shy of funding training for two teachers in Cambodia.

Looking ahead, India said her next mission was volunteering at an orphanage just outside Phnom Penh in Cambodia this July.

“I am very excited, I can’t wait to help teach English and entertain the children,” she said.

To donate to the girls’ cause visit www.livebelowtheline.com.au/team/freddies-prefects.