Mukarram Jameel

Why am I Living Below the Line in 2023?

This year, my first new year in Australia, I have decided to voluntarily live below the line. Now, after reading this, you might be asking yourself: "Why would someone voluntarily choose to eat a maximum of two dollars of food a day?"

To answer this question, I chose to do so because of my experience living through a political and economic crisis - forcing me and millions of others to live through a difficult period in our lives. I am acting for people and the planet to make the world a better place.

My story: I was born in Sri Lanka and lived in Brunei as a young child, one of Southeast Asia's richest nations. Despite the ease and comfort of life there, my parents decided to return to my country of birth when I was seven years old. I was surprised by the contrasts in daily life when I returned to Sri Lanka. Too frequently, there were crowded structures, deteriorating infrastructure, and a healthcare system that struggled to provide for high requirements. Despite these difficulties, I managed to quickly adapt and thrive. However, a string of unfortunate incidents in 2019 set off a political and economic crisis that sent the nation into a tailspin of chaos. The collapse of the economy led to fuel and gas shortages, power outages, inflated prices, long queues that stretched for kilometres, and many other issues that would take many pages to list out. Living through these hardships made me appreciate the importance of not taking things for granted and I was reminded that many people experience unfathomable hardships every day and that we should try to be of assistance. My experience living through a country in crisis is why I made the decision to live below the poverty line this year in order to better understand the struggles that millions of people deal with on a daily basis. My experiences have taught me that empathy and understanding are fundamental traits that we should all work to develop. We must understand that the privileges we take for granted could be taken away in an instant and that we owe it to those who are less fortunate to help them. We can all have a better future if we work together to solve the problems we face, which is why I believe in empowering young people in leading, demanding and creating positive social change. By donating to my page, you will help support Oaktree’s partners and programs to empower young people in the fight against poverty and injustices, close to home and in the Asia-Pacific regions.

Thanks in advance!

My Challenges

LBL Expert Recruited a friend Changed Pic Started a Team
Activated Challenge Mode Shared my Page Created my First Blog Followed LBL on Instagram
Upp'd my Fundraising Goal Got my 1st Donation Raised $300 Smashed my Fundraising Goal

My Achievements

changed pic

started a team

created my first blog

shared my page

smashed my fundraising goal

raised $300

got my 1st donation

upp'd my fundraising goal

recruited a friend

Thank you to my Sponsors

$26.38

Mohamed Mukarram Mohamed Jameel

$21.10

Helen Alway

Well done Mukarram!

$5.28

William Song

$2

Wayne Tan

More current

Our Team

Glen Waverley Secondary College

$18,605.81
$10000

Mark Robinson (C)

Raised so far:

$172.44

Maya

Raised so far:

$350.78

Niyantraa

Raised so far:

$15.55

Flynn Bartlett

Raised so far:

$91.10

Nethaya

kavinthi j

Raised so far:

$5.00

Trinethra Jayakumar

Sayuni

Charlize Chen

Raised so far:

$30.40

Deanna Fernando

Raised so far:

$52.75

Amelie:)

Raised so far:

$967.01

Daisy Robinson

Raised so far:

$251.19

Eva Jimenez

Varshaa

Raised so far:

$75.07

Lily

Raised so far:

$10.00

EMA

harnoor

Raised so far:

$30.25

sara

Taraaanjeet

Raised so far:

$52.75

Delisha

Mary Elise

Raised so far:

$908.36

Clarissa

Raised so far:

$880.12

Henry Robinson

Raised so far:

$244.99

Xinlin

Raised so far:

$26.55

Jian-Yu Lee

Raised so far:

$207.47

Rebecca Remson

Raised so far:

$147.57

Prabhani W

Ernest

Saseni

Raised so far:

$30.50

Harindra Mendu

Haana

Raised so far:

$1,332.57

Claire

Raised so far:

$25.28

Michelle Chen

Raised so far:

$567.38

sureja

Raised so far:

$36.93

Isabel Lau

Raised so far:

$146.18

Rucha

Nimmer

Raised so far:

$356.31

Helli Patel

Raised so far:

$120.06

Hannan

Raised so far:

$109.86

Simarjeet

Raised so far:

$72.75

Ryeanne

Raised so far:

$410.41

Akein Dombepola

Raised so far:

$511.01

Aditi

Kshom Kapur

Raised so far:

$15.50

Mukarram Jameel

Raised so far:

$54.76

Sara

Chloe Teo

Raised so far:

$1,062.78

Riana Singhal

Raised so far:

$352.18

Natalie Trinh

Raised so far:

$898.80

Simone S

Rawini

Raised so far:

$272.03

Malshi V

Raised so far:

$152.75

Aayushi

Stuti

Anshuk Narayan

Raised so far:

$1,292.22

Angie

Rachel

Raised so far:

$47.47

Kaylei Ho

Albee Wu

Raised so far:

$57.50

Zainab Samson

Raised so far:

$432.30

Nadia Yang

Raised so far:

$4.00

Elsie

Raised so far:

$219.03

Celeste S

Raised so far:

$92.20

Sachin

Raised so far:

$10.55

Alex

Sandra Ho

Raised so far:

$354.80

Priya

Nysa

Raised so far:

$462.02

Sanuli

Raised so far:

$73.33

Jamie Zhu

Raised so far:

$50.37

Nithin

Maanya

Raised so far:

$26.38

Stephanie Ong

akshara

Raised so far:

$5.00

Adele Duong

Raised so far:

$412.55

Trish