Hello everybody,
I'm turning 21 this year. I've always felt that a birthday is just another day, a day on which you give yourself an excuse to spend (or have other people spend) a ridiculous amount of money buying more things you don't need or eating more food than you should. I've never asked for gifts from my friends or relatives, but this year I hope to invite everyone to chip in to support this little project that will hopefully help at least a few people to get clean water. Every day, deprived of a right we take for granted, thousands of children die from drinking (or not drinking) dirty water before they reach their fifth birthday. The lack of clean water is not just a health issue; health is only one of the many problems in the chain. It causes war, poverty, worsens gender inequality and illiteracy, and exacerbates virtually every societal ill. The level of suffering is beyond our imagination. But it doesn't have to be that way. We can help change that. We all can.

I'm asking for my age in dollars from everyone of you. $21, $210, even $2.1 or any amount you're comfortable with - every dollar of the money raised will directly fund clean water projects in developing countries. Charity: water will show us exactly which projects we funded once they've been fully completed (which takes about 18 months) meaning we'll know the locations and names of the communities we helped. We don't have to reach the target of $1,000 and I don't expect to. Every little helps.

Love,
Joei
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WE MAKE A LIVING BY WHAT WE GET;
WE MAKE A LIFE BY WHAT WE GIVE.