“PRIVILEGE IS WHEN YOU THINK SOMETHING IS NOT A PROBLEM BECAUSE IS NOT A PROBLEM TO YOU PERSONALLY.”

Today is my 31st birthday and I want to talk to everyone I know about a subject that really touches me...

Imagine having to walk 8 hours every day to fetch water for your whole family and having to ration it between drinking, washing (yourself, your family, your clothes or your home), cooking, gardening, etc.

Imagine having to drink water from swamps, that’s loaded with parasites, bugs, worms, leeches, etc.

Imagine having to collect water from a river that has crocodiles, snakes and other predators.

Many of us have no idea what it's like to be thirsty. We have plenty of water to drink - even the water in our toilets is clean!

Unfortunately, this is not the reality for almost 10% of the world's population. Right now there are still 663 million people living without access to clean water.

In Africa alone, women waste 40 billion hours every year walking to collect water.

Dirty water is responsible for 52% of the deaths in the developing world.

About 1,400 kids die every single day because of dirty water and poor sanitation.

Good news is: this problem is entirely and easily solvable. In most cases those communities are sitting a few meters on top of a reservoir of clean water; when that's not the case, rainwater harvesting and spring protections systems can be put in place, or Pond or BioSand filters can be provided.

All at a really low cost.

In fact, is estimated that it costs only 30 U$ to provide clean water per person. With such a tiny investment we can impact the lives of the affected people in a huge way.

So this year for my birthday I am refusing any presents or celebrations for me. Instead, I am using the occasion to partner up with Charity Water, a beautiful organization that, for the past 10 years, has been helping those less fortunate gain access to the most basic of the needs: clean water.

I made a video where I go into more detail about this campaign: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgmS0rkOeTo&feature=youtu.be

So the deal is: I am asking everyone that I know to donate 31 dollars to this cause. One dollar per year that I’ve been alive. If 31 dollars seem too much for your financial situation right now, no problem, 1 dollar helps and is not just appreciated but needed. If 31 dollars seem too little, go as high as you heart feels like, the sky is the limit for generosity!

Hoping we can together be change makers and make a positive impact in the world!

Happy weekend and thanks for reading and / or watching my video!

With Love,
Laura