So my birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks on the 23rd February. I’m turning the big dub three (33). However, this year, I’m doing it a little different.

You see, I like all the birthday stuff. I like the birthday dinners where you get a free meal and all your friends are forced to say something nice about you. I like the really awkward, out of tune renditions of happy birthday sung by well-meaning loved ones. I like the group cards where everybody says a variation of the same two-line well-wish. I love all that stuff.

And let’s be real, I also really like the gifts.

We pretend to read the cards but in the end it’s all about the gifts.

Cold. Hard. Gifts.

And there are a lot of things I want. I want some new jeans. I want some Nike shoes. I want a surf board, some books, magazine subscriptions, new sunnies, a new tennis racquet, etc, etc.

But, to be honest, I don’t really need any of these things. None of these products are imperative to my daily survival. They might make me look better, feel a bit better and make me slightly more educated and attractive, but whether I have them or don’t have them is really not going to change my life in any significant way. In fact, growing up in middle class Australia, I’ve never really had to go without anything in my life. Ever. And when I stop for a moment and consider that in light of how the majority of the world actually live, it’s pretty crazy.

I mean, in terms of places to be born, I hit the freakin jack pot!

Anyway, so this year, I don’t want any gifts. Seriously, don’t buy me anything. Don’t give me any money. Don’t come to dinner and spend $20 on some rubber chicken. Don’t even buy me a card.

Because this year, I’m donating my birthday to water. I’m asking that any money that would have been spent on gifts, cards, food, etc, be donated to charity: water. If you haven’t heard of this organization, they are an amazing bunch of people who work to provide clean water to those who need it around the world. All of the money donated goes directly to projects that help people get clean water. Yep, 100%!!

I was convinced to do this after listening to a podcast recently about the current water crisis. I was flabbergasted (yes, I just used that word) when I heard that there are still millions of people around the world who don’t have access to clean drinking water. In fact, 633 million people still drink dirty, disease infested water every day. More people die from drinking dirty water each year than from all forms of violence, including war. Every day 1400 children die from diseases from drinking contaminated water, simply because they don't have a choice.

This is ridiculous!! How is it that in this day and age, with all of our resources and technology, that we still haven’t got this right? It actually makes me really angry. If you’re not up to speed with this, like I wasn’t until recently, spend 2 minutes watching this video which explains it well: https://www.charitywater.org/whywater/

So what I am asking is that friends and family donate anything they would have spent on my birthday to this charity. I’m hoping that at least 15 people will give $33 which will raise almost $500 AUD. Of course anything you could give would be amazing and appreciated. (Note: payments are in USD so $33 AUD is around $25 USD)

Or you may be reading this and you don’t even know me and of course, there is no pressure to donate. But if you want to than I would be forever grateful.

Of course, I am not expecting that everyone would have spent money on me in the first place. I mean, I’m great guy and all but this really isn’t about me seeing how much I can raise. To be honest, whether we raise $100 or $10,000, it will only be drop in the ocean of the total need. For you, maybe just giving up one cup of coffee and donating that $4 to this cause would be your contribution. Maybe, instead of buying a bottle of water, you could fill up a bottle at the tap and give that $3. Every little bit counts and together we can make this drop in the ocean a little bigger and give people we will likely never meet access to one of life’s most basic human needs.