My 40 Hour Famine Experience

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My 40 Hour Famine Experience

Friday afternoon saw me piling my possessions on the floor of my bedroom and pulling sleeping bags out from the cupboard as I prepared to give up furniture for 40 hours. In a previous year’s 40 hour famine I had given up my lovely queen sized bed, but this year I upped the ante by deciding to give up all furniture!































I defined furniture as 'movable articles that are used to make a room or building suitable for living in e.g. tables, chairs and desks’, but this did not include home accessories such as pillows and blankets. So for 40 hours I had to sleep and sit on the floor, not use any tables or desks, and any clothes or other items that are usually stored in drawers or on shelves I had to relocate to the floor.
Image result for no couch sign Image result for 40 hour famine 2019

It begins…


I returned from karate training at around half past eight on Friday 7th of June (I had been out when the famine started) and when usually I would flop on my bed, exhausted, I instead plonked onto the floor. Later in the evening when I came to sleeping I arranged my “bed”, a sleeping bag on the floor with an extra sleeping bag and blanket underneath for meager padding. I won't pretend it was a comfortable night. I am lucky that I was quite tired, otherwise drifting off might have been a lot more difficult. Then when I woke on Saturday morning, my body aching, not feeling rested at all, I was just glad that I had carpet; how much more sore would I be sleeping on floorboards? Well, they do say that sleeping on a hard surface is good for your back - though it doesn’t feel like it!

Saturday was as per usual, except that rather than sitting on my bed or at my desk I sat on the floor, doing homework and reading. I ate dinner sitting on the floor, with my parents sitting at the table above me. It was a bit awkward having to bend over my plate and not drop food on the floor, especially considering I was eating a homemade burger, which fillings have a tendency to fall out of on the best of days.

My second night’s sleep was better than the first because I wasn’t aching as much in the morning as the previous day. Maybe I was getting used to it. I went about the morning using my items from on the floor, and noon soon came around and I was able to put my room back to its original state and rest comfortably on my bed. 

 As you can tell, the 40 hours were not the most comfortable of my life, but I’d readily go through the “suffering” again to do more to help the refugee children of South Sudan. The money that I raised will supply children in need with nutritious food, clean water, education, and be invested into their communities so that they have a future. I am so glad I could help and I think that everyone who can should get involved next year.


- Eva Wadsworth

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