This marks the end of my Live below the Line challenge
Thank you all for the kind words whilst I embarked on this journey.
It was a challenge, a real challenge to live with just a pound a day
But there are still 1.2 million people in the world, who live below the "line" and they only have a pound a day not only for food and drinks, but for transport, education and medication. Some don't even have a pound. Whilst, this challenge was only for 5 days, for 1.2 million people in the world it is a reality.
We can change this.
You can still donate to the cause, just click on my fundraising page on the previous blog post!
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Sunday, May 4, 2014
Day 3: Menu
Today's menu:
Break-fast: 2 bread slices and black coffee: 30p
Lunch: A packet noodle soup with egg: 40p
Dinner: 2 slices bread and hot cocoa- 30p
Total: 100p
Wah, BINGO
Yeti marches on!Live is a standstill.
This time last week, we were getting pumped up for the big UAEM stunt- marching the streets of Basel protesting for global access to medicines. UAEM Basel Conference withdrawal syndrome! :(
A blog post on my swiss experieicne is coming up very soon! Whilst we are in the subject of global access to medicines,
Did you know that university essentially hold the key to improving global access to medicine?
By adopting Global Access Licensing, essentially universities are overcoming the obstacles to generic production of their researched products. Universities are the biomedical research hub- ie: most of the research for drugs comes from the labs of OUR universities. When these universities sell rights of these drugs to the pharmaceutical companies, essentially they lose the opportunity to make an impact in society.
Case in point:
In 2006, Emory university, in the United States, made a deal with Gilead and Royalty Pharma that essentially extended pharma's control over the marketing of Antiretrovirals Emtriva (emtricitabine, FTC) and Truvada (emtricitabine+tenofovir, FTC+TDF. Ultimately, this means that Pharma would continute to monopolize the market in poor income countries and heighten its prices- making it unaffordable to people in low income countries. These drugs, Truvada and Emtriva was recommended and approved by the US FDA as an alternative regime for ART-naive HIV infected patients. Unfortunately access to medicine in low income countries was not discussed as part of the terms of the agreement.
Universities, which primarily are public sector institutions, make use of tax payer's money to conduct research in Labs and thus have a "moral" obligation to strive towards the betterment of the society. Their research should not be profit driven but should be "access-driven", it should aim to make the lives of people better. Though it may sound cliche and cheesy, ultimately every researcher who adorns the lab coat, intends to make a difference in the world. To all budding researchers out there, who dream to make a change and make a positive impact on people's lives: MAKE access a priority!!
To learn more about the MSF access campaign:
http://www.msfaccess.org/
To learn about Universities allied for Essential Medicine (UAEM)
http://www.uaem-europe.org/
To read the article on Open Access Licensing:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1797018/
To know about immunization access barriers in children:
http://vimeo.com/92671360
Breakfast: 2 slices of bread + Black iced coffee = 30p
The yeti marches on!
A blog post on my swiss experieicne is coming up very soon! Whilst we are in the subject of global access to medicines,
Did you know that university essentially hold the key to improving global access to medicine?
By adopting Global Access Licensing, essentially universities are overcoming the obstacles to generic production of their researched products. Universities are the biomedical research hub- ie: most of the research for drugs comes from the labs of OUR universities. When these universities sell rights of these drugs to the pharmaceutical companies, essentially they lose the opportunity to make an impact in society.
Case in point:
In 2006, Emory university, in the United States, made a deal with Gilead and Royalty Pharma that essentially extended pharma's control over the marketing of Antiretrovirals Emtriva (emtricitabine, FTC) and Truvada (emtricitabine+tenofovir, FTC+TDF. Ultimately, this means that Pharma would continute to monopolize the market in poor income countries and heighten its prices- making it unaffordable to people in low income countries. These drugs, Truvada and Emtriva was recommended and approved by the US FDA as an alternative regime for ART-naive HIV infected patients. Unfortunately access to medicine in low income countries was not discussed as part of the terms of the agreement.
Universities, which primarily are public sector institutions, make use of tax payer's money to conduct research in Labs and thus have a "moral" obligation to strive towards the betterment of the society. Their research should not be profit driven but should be "access-driven", it should aim to make the lives of people better. Though it may sound cliche and cheesy, ultimately every researcher who adorns the lab coat, intends to make a difference in the world. To all budding researchers out there, who dream to make a change and make a positive impact on people's lives: MAKE access a priority!!
http://www.msfaccess.org/
To learn about Universities allied for Essential Medicine (UAEM)
http://www.uaem-europe.org/
To read the article on Open Access Licensing:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1797018/
To know about immunization access barriers in children:
http://vimeo.com/92671360
Live below the LINE challenge Day 3:
Breakfast: 2 slices of bread + Black iced coffee = 30p
The yeti marches on!
Saturday, May 3, 2014
Day 2:
I think this might be a tougher day as I was craving cream and mangoes!
Mangoes especially.
Day 2:
Breakfast:
2 slices of bread and hot coco(30p)
Lunch: 2 slices french toast with 1 egg(20p)
Dinner: half a packet noodles with 1 egg- 40p. Total: 90p.
Mangoes especially.
Day 2:
Breakfast:
2 slices of bread and hot coco(30p)
Lunch: 2 slices french toast with 1 egg(20p)
Dinner: half a packet noodles with 1 egg- 40p. Total: 90p.
Friday, May 2, 2014
Day 1: Menu
Today's menu:
Breakfast:
Two slices of bread with butter: 10p
Coffee with milk 20p
Lunch
Pasta with soy sauce: 20p
Dinner
Pasta with baked beans and egg: 44p
Total: 94p
Ooooh, that was close.
Day 1: Crawling through lunch-time
Its 13:07 pm.
And i am EXHAUSTED. I have just spent around 80 minutes walking to and fro South Kensington Campus and I am finally back home. But my legs are aching so bad and i feel OLD. There is a dire need for me to start exercising but....
And i am EXHAUSTED. I have just spent around 80 minutes walking to and fro South Kensington Campus and I am finally back home. But my legs are aching so bad and i feel OLD. There is a dire need for me to start exercising but....
Have you realized how you notice something more when you don't have it?
So, whilst walking to university today, i noticed 17, yes 17 people with a Starbucks cup in their hand.
It is quite sad that I actually counted them. (**hits my forehead several times)
Why you did this, Just VY?
When i came home, i was craving coffee so I made one and after taking a sip, i vowed never to make one again! And just as I was about to put some cream, Prerna kindly pointed out that cream was not allowed and I was like,
Cream should be a human right, really.
Anyways, so apart from the "whole coffee debacle" and the fact that the nociceptors (pain sensors, or at least i think they are...) in my legs are on " super-active" mode, I am doing just fine! It is a cold cold day today and I wish that the sun was out shining down on us! It would be nice to have some warmth!
I am currently looking at the blogs of other LIVE below the LINE-rs and if you would like to follow them here is one I find particularly interesting and "relatable". It's quite hilarious!
On a more serious note,
I just read an article on how students in South Sudan were sitting for an exam admist the armed conflict. During exam times, i am usually killing myself (not literally maybe not), mugging till the last minute and yes, cursing the man or woman who came up with such horrid school assessment systems. Yet, I took advantage of the fact that I do have a roof above my head, food to eat and a safe environement to revise for exams. On the other side of the world, students like me are sitting for them amidst a violent surrounding. Maybe exams are horrid things but maybe, just maybe, we should take a minute to appreciate the fact that we get to write them in safety. (click on the article to find out more)http://blogs.unicef.org.uk/2014/04/30/eleven-things-people-living-line-will-understand/
Conflicts are perhaps inevitable. I mean we would be living in an utopia if we had no wars, conflicts or violent killings. Its something that we should strive for, oh yes definitely. And I truly believe literacy will extinguish the fire of ignorance and
hatred. Together we can strive to give these students hope by giving
them an opportunity for an education. Or we can all just join Amity (faction in the Divergent series- if you haven't read it, you haven't lived) and be like..
I would very much like that to happen.
In a small way, in our way, we can help these children by providing books, school supplies and clothes. We can do so by donating money to UNICEF or volunteering! This is not only a problem in the Global South, this issue hits close to home. Wherever you are, in the UK, in Singapore, there are students who struggle with education in their own way.
I am sorry this has post is ending on a serious note. But i truly truly believe in this cause and I know from the bottom of my lungs that if we, as a generation, strive together for a better world, that perhaps we change things for the better.
Now its time to think about lunch.
All i think about it food. Oh. MY. Goodness.
If you would like to sponsor me!
All proceeds go to fighting poverty!!
The yeti marches on!
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