adelaidemedblog

Yesterday marks the beginning of the 40 hour famine for us med students. If you haven’t heard of this before, the 40 hour famine is a program run by World Vision to raise money for third world countries; whereby the participants are sponsored to give up something (usually food) for 40 hours. Many of us are fasting for 40 hours; some are staying awake for 40 hours and a few are being mute for 40 hours.

An honorable mention must go to Andrew Vanlint for going blind for 40 hours (simple medical procedure - tie a blindfold around the head at the level of the eyes) with Dave to help him get around, and to Sathish Paramasivan for giving up ALL communication for 40 hours (this includes speaking, internet chatting, sms, hand signals, writing for someone else to read, face signals, and body language).

Me? I’m giving up the use of my right hand and arm for 40 hours (via another simple medical procedure - remove the arm, freeze it, and reattach after 40 hours. no not really; just using a collar-and-cuff bandage to tie my arm behind my back. As Cheryl puts it succinctly, it’s kind of monoplegia. This means that I am typing and writing with my left hand… and my shoe is untied. -_- my arm is also getting a bit sore.

It’s all for a good cause though. The money we all raise is going to feed hungry people in third world countries. Why do this? Why not just raise money? Well, the point is to feel just a bit of suffering to kind of acknowledge their constant suffering.

So far, it is working. I’m still accepting donations so if you see a guy walking around the med school with his right arm bandaged up behind his back; feel free to come up and talk and donate. 0:)