For women in the Sahel, the first step out of poverty begins with clean water. And for my birthday, I want to help!

During the hotter part of the year, the average temperature in the Sahel region of West Africa is more than 110 degrees.

For women here, not having access to clean water means hours of painful and exhausting work. Many of them walk miles each day just to reach the 100-year-old hole in the ground where they collect water. And they make that trip four or five times. Not only is that water contaminated and dirt-colored, but it has to be pulled up by hand, one bucket at a time.

The homemade rope burns their hands; it causes bleeding and leaves callouses — even scars. And sometimes the rope breaks, causing women to fall into the wells.

But we can change all of that!

We can bring solar powered pumps into communities and pipe water to tap stands right next to these women’s homes. We can bring time, energy and a better future to 100,000 people in Mali and Niger.

Help me play a small part in changing the lives of women in the Sahel -- donate to my campaign.

100% of everything we raise will directly fund water projects. And when those projects are finished, charity: water will send us proof in pictures and GPS coordinates, so we can see the actual people and communities we impacted.