Hunger pangs- Kevin Tangga lived on $2 a day for a week to understand how some people do it every day. 65097 Picture: Kim Cartmell

By Sasha Petrova
TWO dollars is hard to stretch over one day. In fact, it’s almost impossible.
But Berwick’s Kevin Tangga is one of many people who have tried.
He is one of thousands of Australians who took part in Live Below The Line, a campaign that had people feeding themselves with $2 a day for five days in a bid to understand how 1.4 billion people living in poverty do it – every day.
“I did it for seven days instead of five,” Kevin said.
“I wanted to challenge myself a lot more.”
On Monday, Kevin went to the supermarket.
“My shopping list consisted of rice and rolled oats,” he said.
He also bought two litres of milk, some meat that was on sale, a dozen eggs and a loaf of bread.
“It cost me about $12 and the rest I spent on sugar and salt – just stuff I wanted to put into my food.”
The World Bank has estimated that the extreme poverty line sits at US$1.25 per day.
The estimate is a global average, worked out by equalising the relative currencies over each country’s purchasing power.
In this way, it disproves the argument that the US$1.25 would go further in developing countries than it would here.
The Live Below the Line organisers took into account the changes in Australia since 2005, when the World Bank’s estimate was released, and came up with $2.
This is not only the amount people live on in developing countries, but also in Australia.
Kevin found the seven days of limiting his food extremely difficult.
“It was one of the largest challenges I’ve taken because most people who know me know that I love eating my food,” he said.
“Throughout the week, I was tempted to cheat, but I couldn’t under good conscience.”
Even though Kevin’s nutritional intake had dropped for only a few days, he found himself unable to concentrate.
“I was less active in school,” he said.
“The moment I got back on food, I felt a lot more energised.”
The campaign’s goal is not only to provide a practical understanding of extreme poverty, but also to create dialogue and raise funds for those in need.
Kevin raised $600 after an inspirational talk he gave at the staff meeting.
It’s a campaign that he said he will definitely do again next year.
“I think it’s a real eye opener. It was only for seven days, and people have to go through that all their lives,” he said.