Hello
Our theme for this week was Poverty. The main objective of the week was for us to have more empathy and compassion for poor people in England and around the world.
To acheive this objective we had to spend the week in a fi
eld. We were occasionally visited by the leaders who set us challenges.
Our first challenge was to build two shelters, one for the guys and one for the girls using the a saw, a tarpoline and rope we were given.
Another big challenge we were given was to make a fire and keep it going every day through the day and night. One reason for this was to simulate what it would be like to have to protect your family in a dangerous situation.
On the last day we were sent into town for our final challenges. We had to ask members of the public for different things so that we would experience peoples reactions when we hadn’t washed for a week.
Our challenges continued throughout the week and each one was given to try and simulate what it’s like to live in poverty. We also had limited food and water supplies throughout the week and had to rely on the leaders to occasionally bring us food and water.
The week has reminded me of all the things I take for granted. The hardest thing for me was the limted food. It’s usually so easy for me to go into a cupboard, fridge or shop and get food whenever I feel like it.
Another hard thing was keeping the fire going during the night. As a result we were tired during the day but we still had jobs to to do including cutting wood to keep the fire going.
In town we started to realise a little bit of the rejection homeless people often feel.
This week obviously hasn’t been a walk in the proverbial park but many good things have come from the experience. Every morning and evening we sang worship songs for God and prayed for people in poverty. We also had an amazing answer to prayer whilst we were in town where we were given an abundance of free food! The week has brought us all closer to each other too. I hope that this week will always remind us to help people in poverty. So in a strange way I can say that it’s been a good week and we have enjoyed it.
South West Equipping and Training (SWEAT) is a Christian run leadership training school based in Plymouth. With a focus on character development we offer a one year accredited course for people over 18 who want to further develop their leadership skills. Our heart is to bring people to the South West to train and for them to return to their places of work, churches and families as strong leaders with solid characters.