The Shack Experience
The idea is to try and get a slight glimpse of what living is like for most of the world. TJ, Nikki, Tara, Josh and Kristi have created a scenario that they are willingly putting themselves though in a desperate attempt for better understanding.The shack is made of cardboard, plastic, and an old truck canopy and has a dirt floor. Their ‘shower’ is an old torn blue tarp, a pail and a small cup.
Each student will stay in shack for four days. While there they will be:
- working hard labor jobs for nine hours a day
- making 100 pesos ($8) per day
- buying all their water and food
- cooking everything on an open fire with wood they find in the neighborhood
- paying rent and other misc bills like (repaying a loan shark and medical expenses)
They have no electricity, no entertainment items, some simple dishes and one luxury item… a small can of bug spray just in case the earwigs, spiders or snakes decide to move back into their shack with them. They will be ‘showering’ at least twice in the four days as well as doing their laundry by hand on the final day.This morning at 6am was Kristi and TJ’s departure to the shack. What you see in their hands was all they were allowed to take with them.
Here they are settling in to their new home! And look… a stray dog has all ready befriended them.
Their first job of the day was to clean up all the garbage around the property where they are staying.
Stay posted as we will update their progress a couple of times each day. I am looking forward to seeing what supplies they will buy tonight with thier first day’s wages. Stay tuned later today, we will check in with them around supper time again.