On Friday (Dec. 2), I'm turning 23! And as you know, I'm in China now, and I'm seeing first hand, just a very, VERY small glimpse, of what it is like when you don't have access to clean water.

Everyone here drinks purified water from water coolers because tap water isn't clean enough for drinking. It can be safe when boiled, but it still isn't totally clean. There have been days when our 5 gallon tank of purified water has run dry and we haven't been able to replace it within a short time period.

Additionally, everyone has central heating here for the cold, cold winter. This is controlled by hot water running through pipes in the walls. Sometimes a pipe in the building can start leaking, and so to avoid flooding from occurring in an apartment (and possibly even in the apartment below), the water for the whole apartment building is turned off without notice. So more than a couple of times I have come home to find that the water is not running.

For me, these instances were only miniscule inconveniences when compared to the bigger picture; I just had to go down to the supermarket to buy some bottled water to drink, and I just had to wait until the next morning to take a shower. But they still made me more aware, even if only to a tiny degree, of what it is like to not have access to clean water.

I'd much rather my birthday being about helping others than about me, so giving to charity:water instead seemed like a great idea!
Love always