On the 19th June ‘05, Steve Roberts (father of committee member Ellen Roberts), volunteered to take on an unusual and thought-provoking challenge in order to both raise funds for Development in Action and to raise awareness about people across the world living in poverty. Below is Steve’s explanation of the task he set himself and an account of his experience.

It’s a funny business raising money through sponsorship, asking people to give you money in exchange for your doing something slightly crazy, such as running a marathon, or doing a parachute jump. I’ve sponsored people not to speak for 24 hours, or even to lay in a bath full of cold baked beans in the middle of town?! But I was proposing to do something a bit more serious, with a secondary objective, and I wasn’t sure how the idea would be received. I decided to leave home and go and live in the woods for a week, leaving behind as much as I dared of all the things that make our lives easy and comfortable. I wanted to live very simply. This was late June, just before the culmination of the Make Poverty History campaign in Edinburgh and the G8 summit in Gleneagles. We were all hearing the discussions about Africa and to what extent the richest nations could afford to help the world’s poorest. It seemed an appropriate moment to focus on just how fortunate we are to be living here in Britain, how comfortable our lives are, and how much we take for granted. The following is an account of my week, compiled from extracts from my journal:

Day 1

I’ve carried with me a few essentials like a cooking pot and a box of matches, an old piece of polythene and a ball of string, a bucket for fetching water, a little saw, and a toilet roll and spade! The shelter comes together pretty quickly, it looks fairly uncomfortable but when I lay down to test it out I fall straight to sleep. I don’t know what the time is – no watch of course and it’s quite disorientating when you’ve no idea if you’ve slept for three minutes or three hours. Is it lunchtime? Is it teatime? I’m eating what I’ve grown so I’m okay for new potatoes and lettuce, a bit of spinach and cabbage, and the strawberries are just starting. So I can go and gather things, gather wood, build a fire, cook my first meal – it’s okay. A stirring stick made from a bit of beech works fine, but eating out of my pot with already filthy fingers will be a problem. People keep saying ‘won’t it be very scary in the woods, all on your own, in the dark?’ I don’t know - I’ve never tried before.

Day 2

Well no, it wasn’t scary at all. I didn’t expect to be comfortable but I wasn’t prepared for how cold I’d be. No sleeping bag, just a ‘nest’ of beech leaves and a little rug not long enough to reach from my chin to my feet. It’s just getting light and the birds are singing when I wake. I’m going to try to work normally, that’s okay – I work outside anyway and the farthest I’ll have to walk is only three miles down the road. Our chickens are laying well so it’s boiled egg for breakfast, and fresh fennel to drink. It doesn’t feel like enough, I don’t feel great all morning. Potatoes and lettuce for lunch don’t help much. Must try to cook something more interesting in the evening. I fry up one tiny onion, some spinach thinnings and some marble size potatoes, with two eggs on top; it’s really good. Bit messy with the fingers, but I’m so hungry.

Day 3

Not as cold but still not enough sleep. Walk through the woods to work as the sun is coming up clear and bright. No one is about and the fragrance of the honeysuckle is amazing. Discover when I get to work that it’s only 7 o’clock. Evening meals are getting easier. I find that cabbage leaves make good plates and Ellen has told me that in Tanzania they use string for scourers to clean cooking pots and yes, it works quite well.

Day 4

I’m awake before the first birds today and I’m very cold. Get up and gather wood to build a fire and then sit as close as I dare to warm up. I can’t believe it can get this cold in June. Really don’t feel great. Is it the food or the lack of sleep? Starting to worry about being ill and how terrible it would feel to have to give up at this point. Still not confident in the evening when I set off along the Ridgeway path for Wendover. I always go down on Wednesday evening. Why is this the first time I’ve ever walked? It’s the most brilliant evening and, apart from being attacked by squadrons of horseflies, it’s perfect. And the walk back, after dark and through the trees – it’s absolutely quiet, nobody about. Good thing I know the woodland paths well because I really can’t see a thing and, of course, I have no torch.

Day 5

Much better today – slept okay. Think I’m beginning to adapt to this new way of living. I think I’m learning to cope with a new diet too. It’s completely quiet and it’s good to be able to strip off and have a wash in the morning knowing that no one could possibly be about for several more hours. A friend got up early and baked a loaf of soda bread and she’s brought in some home made plum jam. Lunch is indescribably beautiful, if a little messy, as I break off big chunks of this heavy bread and consume half the jar of jam in one go. In the evening I’m joined by a friend and we sit by the fire. It’s good to be able to share thoughts and feelings, from Mandela to John Seymour and from Darfur to Green energy.

Day 6

Fried potatoes and fried eggs… Excellent! It’s still very hot as I head off to work, but heavy. I’m told that thunder is on its way. The rain arrives and I’ve managed to get back to my shelter just in time. With no waterproof clothing, I can’t afford to get very wet. I tuck myself up as for night, and, as the thunder begins and the heavens open, I fall asleep. Apparently it rained all afternoon so I guess I must have slept for maybe three hours. Damp evening but, as I’m sitting eating, I’m joined by a badger who treats me to a full five minutes, rummaging about just 20 feet away.

Day 7

I’ve suggested that sponsors might try and come and see me on this, my last, day. But the weather’s not looking great. How lovely it is then that, from early on, I’m joined by a steady and continuous stream of well wishers. I’ve made a good fire in the glade and in the evening I’m happy to enjoy whatever food people have brought. And how nice it is. We talk about what I have found hard and what I am most looking forward to back home. I haven’t missed too much. A shower would be good though! Only one more night. Everyone heads off into the darkness and all goes quiet. Time to reflect again on my week. I have spent no money, bought no food, used no electricity, burnt no fossil fuels, produced no waste for the bin men… lost a bit of weight. It’s been interesting, something I might choose to do again, but not really hard when I think about the lives of the estimated 1.3 billion people around the world who live, in poverty, on less than a dollar a day...

Steve’s week in the woods was a success on two levels; he not only raised over £1000, but also managed to engage a large number of friends, relatives and locals in the issues and debates surrounding global poverty. He involved people in discussions before, after and even during his week in the woods; he wrote letters to all his sponsors; and he also wrote an article in a local magazine. Throughout Steve also endeavoured to highlight the importance of development education, and the value of the work of organisations, such as Development in Action, in promoting global citizenship.