Sarah Aquilini said she doesn’t eat much at the best of times and is quite the fan of rice, but a week on the refugee diet left her sick of the monotony and four kilograms lighter.
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The Tenterfield High School year 12 student was seeing news of the plight of refugees in the media and was looking for ways she could help, when she came across ACT for Peace and the Ration Challenge.
She signed up to do the challenge a little before official Refugee Week, knowing that a trip to Brisbane that week would hamper her chances of success.
A cardboard box in the mail contained her entire rations for the week, consisting of rice, pulses, tinned sardines and vegetable oil.
For a realistic refugee eating experience, the box included two food ‘coupons’ for additional rice and flour, representing the coupons many refugees are given by the UN or other organisations to be exchanged in local shops for essential staple foods. The coupons allowed Sarah to buy an additional 1.5kg of rice and 400g of plain flour to supplement her rations.
Like refugees who seek out ways to earn extra money to help support themselves (for example by making and selling handicrafts), she earned ‘rewards’ for the money she raised through sponsorship. Her $600 entitled her to 100 grams of sugar, 100ml of milk and 200 grams of carrots.
This is the fifth year of the ACT for Peace challenge, with more than 25,000 particpants raising just short of $6 million. The money raised goes to support people fleeing violence and conflict in Syria.
A typical day for Sarah was crepes made with her flour and water for breakfast, plain rice for lunch and rice and beans for dinner. She said one of the hardest parts was being around her siblings tucking into their normal meals.
She suffered hunger pains and loss of energy. Mid-way through the week she came down with the flu and had to console herself with lentil soup. She yearned for a cup of tea but was restricted to drinking only water.
She said it all made her appreciate a little of what those in refugee camps are up against.
“And some of them are stuck there for years, still eating that.”
She craved chocolate the most, and appreciated the breakfast of pancakes with jam and cream that her mum made after she finished the challenge.
Sarah said she’d do it again (she has since regained the lost weight) and would encourage others to do likewise.
“I thought it was really good.”
She said the biggest surprise was that her love of rice didn’t see her through.
“I thought I’d be OK but it was so bland and monotonous, by the end I was so sick of it.”
