*Short Version*:

I turn 29 on Jan 4th. I'm asking you to help me drill clean-water wells in the middle of nowhere, by contributing to this project.

*Long Version*:

I am ridiculously lucky, as I have always-on running water, at the tap, safe to drink. And as if that isn't enough, I usually even have my choice of *hot* or *cold*. I've never had to lug a barrel full of water to safety, and then boil it to make it potable.

Even at my most disadvantaged, when I was borrowing a couch to sleep on, in the city, I still could take a shower for an *hour* if I wanted to. I could still drink from the tap until my belly was full. I was still one of the luckiest people in all of human history.

That was a few years ago, but I don't want to lose sight of that gratitude. I urge any and all friends and family, please, consider contributing to a well-drilling project that can make life *possible* in some of the most desolate regions of our world. Please consider, for my birthday, giving a small gift to this project. It's efficient, it's real, and it's got no strings attached.

I just got word, a few months back, that the project I got to contribute to in 2010 just completed, bringing safe, fresh water to the Adiana Community, in Ethiopia.

I'm shopping for Christmas presents this month Spending $29 (a dollar for my every year) won't get a deluxe box of Lego's, won't get any new-release video game, won't cook a Christmas dinner for a dozen houseguests. But it *will* provide 3 people with 10 years of sustainable, clean water at the next well.