Our Worth Your Salt campaign aims to raise awareness of the challenges facing refugees and to raise money to support the work of Oasis. Read more
Worth Your Salt - What's it all about?
Even at the best of times, getting the right nutrients for your body can be a real test. Contradictory advice from different sources can easily confuse even the fussiest foodies.
Now imagine trying to do it while fleeing a conflict or persecution.
Men, women and children in refugee camps around the world face this challenge daily. Camps are often poorly constructed, with informal housing or tents. Many are at risk of floods, fire or outbreaks of disease.
Often host countries are experiencing their own humanitarian and economic crises, even before potential disruption to supply lines.
Despite their best efforts, agencies may not be able to meet the 2000-2500 daily calories recommended for an adult. Funding concerns can mean the rations available at a refugee camp can be as little as 1700 calories per day.
Tragically, the finite resources available means less food for everyone.
At Oasis, we believe in providing a warm Welsh welcome to all asylum seekers and refugees here in Cardiff., some of whom have lived experience of refugee camps as part of their journey to the UK. We provide free, hot and nutritious meals during the week to our local community We often feed up to 170 people every day!
Unfortunately, we are also facing funding issues due to the current cost of living crisis. So that we can continue to provide meals to our clients, we’re asking our supporters to take up our Worth Your Salt challenge.
To be worth one's salary (a word that comes from the Latin for salt) or wages comes from the Roman custom of paying soldiers money to buy salt.
So, for up to five days, we are asking anyone who wants to take part in the challenge to eat the same weekly rations as an adult in a refugee camp. You will only eat what’s on a shopping list: rice, flour, lentils, tuna, chickpeas, oil, and water to drink. So: no spices, no tea, coffee, not even salt! But, as we hit our fundraising goals, we’ll be unlocking those extras so that you can literally become worth your salt.
You can sign up at www.oasiscardiff.org and ask your family, friends and colleagues to sponsor you.
We encourage participants to do it for as long as you feel comfortable, and only if you are in good health. You don’t have to undertake the challenge for all five days. but even if you can only do it for a day, every little helps.
Our aim is to promote solidarity with refugees here in the UK, especially at a time when hostility towards refugees seems to be on the rise. By engaging with the challenge, you’ll understand something of the difficulties faced by refugees who are forced to live in ill-equipped, under-funded, and dangerous situations around the globe. You’ll also be helping Oasis as a charity, by raising money and awareness of our work. The funds we raise will go directly into our food budget, so that we can help feed more people here in Wales.
By offering a warm Welsh welcome to the refugees in our community, we at Oasis aim to prove that a better way is possible.
Take up our Worth Your Salt Challenge, and you can help us make it a reality.