As my 19th birthday creeps up on me, I wanted to grab the opportunity to be a part of this powerful movement once again! When I turned 17, friends and family helped complete my first Charity: Water campaign in which all the funds were donated to the Tigray Region of Ethiopia with the Relief Society of Ethiopia, where less than half of the population has access to clean water. The donations funded a spring protection project in Tigray, which managed to get clean water to more than 150 people!

Turning 19, I have everything I could ever ask for. Everyday, adoring family and amazing friends give me reason to love my life. On top of this I have access to clean water, which is a luxury that 663 million people in the world go without.

The majority of these people live in isolated rural areas and spend hours every day walking to collect water for their family. Not only does walking for water keep children out of school and take up time that parents could be using to earn money, but the water often carries diseases that can make everyone sick. Diseases from dirty water kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. 43% of those deaths are children under five years old, taking 16,000 lives every week.

But it doesn’t have to be this way! There are simple solutions like drilled wells, spring protections and BioSand filters that help provide clean water to communities around the world, because access to clean water means education, income and health - especially for women and children.

I started this fundraising campaign to help charity: water build these types of projects around the world, and I'm looking for anyone who can help me! In celebration of my 19th birthday I ask you to donate! This campaign will be running from today until the the end of June. 100% of the money will be used to build clean water projects that when completed, charity: water will send us photos and GPS coordinates so we can see the exact community we helped!! Okay I just realize I have written an essay. But ahhhhhhhhhh!!! Get off your toilet bowl filled with fresh, clean water and help get clean water to those who need it!