Sarah is hoping to boost it to eight refugees and is appealing to the community to help her to reach the $2500 goal by this Friday, June 30. Today Sarah's fundraising total on the ‘Act for Peace Ration Challenge’ website reads $2219.80, just 280.20 short of the $2500 goal.

“It costs $288 to feed a refugee in the Jordan camp for one year, I think that’s amazing. I’d love to reach goal. I am so thankful to the community for its support of me, it’s been amazing and made the experience really worthwhile,” Sarah said. 

Last week Sarah radically altered her diet to live on the rations provided to a Syrian refugee living in a camp in Jordan. From June 18 to June 24 she ate a limited diet of sardines, rice, lentils, chick peas, kidney beans and flour. Act for Peace provided the ration pack to Sarah and she said she was shocked and challenged by how little food was provided to eat. Her body protested and Sarah said she felt sick, absent-minded and lethargic.

“I’m feeling the full brunt of this challenge,” Sarah said on Saturday night. “I’m feeling tired, really tired, really hungry, really foggy in my head, and am having difficulty concentrating. Thank goodness that Craig (Sarah’s husband) has been holding the fort for the week.”

“It’s been a very long week and I’m really looking forward to tomorrow and being able to eat properly again,” Sarah said. “I can eat properly tomorrow but for the refugees, well they don’t have that choice and it’s a very sobering reminder as to why I started this – it was for all of those mothers who are refugees and worry about what their children will eat today and tomorrow. I hope what I’ve done has made a small difference and they realise there are people who care.”

Sarah cited coffee as “maybe what I looked forward to the most!” at the end of the challenge, and her husband Craig, presented her with a latte on Sunday morning and “a small big breakfast”.

“I didn’t want to make too much of a fuss or make my meal too big as I wanted to be respectful as I know that refugees don’t get to change what they eat,” Sarah said.

“I had a small ‘big breakfast’ of bacon, an egg, half a sausage and half a hash brown, it was delicious. It took a few meals for me to start feeling well again and I still felt a little brain foggy that morning.”

Sarah hopes her choice to take part in the challenge “prompted a few dinner conversations with families about the refugee crisis.

To act to support Sarah reach the $2500 goal visit her ‘Act for Peace Ration Challenge’ page at https://actforpeace.rationchallenge.org.au/fundraisers/sarahwilkinson by June 30.