An unusual African diet is being undertaken by a man travelling the world in aid of charity to raise awareness of the tough conditions some of the continent face.
Deforestation, finding clean water and drastic changes in climate are just some of the problems the people of Zimbabwe face and Andrew Neale, from Ribbleton, is doing a week on the diet to show how tough it can be.
The 30-year-old who has spent months volunteering across the world, will consume a mere 500 calories a day instead of the 2,500 needed for a man to raise money for charity Progressio, which supports poor and marginalised people.
Joined by his partner Luke Parker, Andrew will eat just two “tiny” portions of vegetables and rice a day and says the challenge is all about raising awareness.
“I’ve spent my life volunteering in places like South Africa, Armenia and various places across the UK and it’s a real eye opener,” Andrew said.
“I only returned from Nicaragua last month where we were building water filters, eco stores and teaching them about climate change. It’s an amazing charity which does a lot of good work as well as giving its volunteers some great experiences, so when they asked me to do the challenge I thought it was a great idea.”
The challenge, entitled ‘Zimfast’, sees the pair fasting for six days on a simple Zimbabwean diet and Andrew explains why he thinks raising awareness is important.
He said: “The fact that my diet was so restricted in Nicaragua, and yet nobody back home could really understand it and appreciate the variety available in the UK, made me think it’d be nice to have my friends having a taste of it, so we agreed to try.”
To donate to Andrew and Luke’s cause go to www.justgiving.com/Andy-Luke-Chantel
