Christian politicians go 24 hours as slum dwellers

Christian MPs were among a group of six parliamentarians who spent the last 24 hours in a makeshift slum to draw attention to the plight of the one billion slum dwellers worldwide.

Labour MP Andy Read, Conservative MP David Burrowes and Lib Dem MP Tim Farron were given a taste of the reality that slum dwellers face each day as part of the Tearfund-Soul Survivor joint initiative, Slum Survivor.

The challenge required the MPs to construct their own slum dwelling from tarpaulin and vegetable crates and live off a diet of lentil dhal for 24 hours.

"It's about being slightly out of our comfort zone," said Mr Read, who credits his Christian faith as the inspiration for becoming a politician.

"It's just understanding a little bit of not being in power," said Mr Burrowes. "People like to think of us as the powerful but it's a few hours of being powerless, and having to do things in circumstances which are beyond our control. That's important for us to understand when we are in power that we are ensuring we are speaking up for the powerless."

The MPs said they hoped to raise more awareness of the daily suffering endured by the world's slum dwellers and campaign for more to be done to achieve the Millennium Development Goal to significantly improve the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020.

"Even if us having a little bit of hardship over the next 24 hours makes a difference in people thinking about this issue, if that's all I've managed to achieve, then for me that's a good start," said Mr Read.

He admitted that it had been a challenge to go with so little food whilst others around him continued to eat to Western standards but said it had helped him to realise that "the proximity of slum dwellers and those in absolute poverty is quite often next to that absolute wealth".

Thousands of young people have already taken up the Slum Survivor challenge, with many going on to hold their own Slum Survivor events in their schools, colleges and churches.

More than £160,000 has been raised and is going towards supporting young slum dwellers in Zimbabwe and South Africa with education and food.

The head of Tearfund, Matthew Frost, said, "I don't know how many of you have lived in a slum but I recommend the experience to you. When you allow poverty to come up close and personal in that way, it changes you, and it changes you forever."

Rachel Tiffany, a practising Christian, is a school student at King Charles I School in Kidderminster. She was so inspired by her experience with Slum Survivor that she now runs the project with other students at her school and is encouraging other schools to take part.

"After I came back from doing it, I realised how lucky I was. I looked at my bedroom and everything I owned, and it made me sick just how much I had," said Rachel. "It doesn't matter and it's so irrelevant but it's so easy to get caught up in the materialistic stuff.

"Until you experience it, you have no idea really. It's just numbers and you can blank it out and ignore it all," she added.

Her friend, Sian Astill, had never stepped in a church before taking part in Slum Survivor but was converted to Christianity through her experience.

"The more we talked about slums and losing people you love, it just challenged me," she said.

"I grew up in a really 'providing' environment," she said. "I would be on the internet for hours, but now I just don't need it."

As part of Slum Survivor, participants have to watch their own slum dwellings be knocked down before having to re-build them again. It is a poignant reminder of real slum dwellers whose homes are often demolished by city authorities that want rid of them.

"Seeing it knocked down really hit me and really made me think 'that's their home', and that I wanted to help them," said Sian.

Rachel added, "When the bulldozer came round the corner and hit the slum, everyone was just standing there and crying. I realised a lot about praising God in the hard times."


Slum Survivor on the web: soulaction.org/slumsurvivor/