The picture above was taken on my birthday last year. My five friends and I were in Haiti installing water purification systems for a mission house and a private school and neighborhood about six miles away.

My time in Haiti gave me a new appreciation for my call to work to bring clean water and sanitation to people in the developing world. I had never before wondered where my next drink would come from. Never before had I actually "gone thirsty" or been afraid that the drink I just took might cause a long series of reactions in my body that were terribly unpleasent.

In short, previously I could sympathize with the conditions in the developing world, but now I could truly empathize. I had lived a little bit of the life of people who drew their water from an unknown well, (when the generator worked). I had lived in a house where every drop of drinking water was filtered through bucket-filters. I had spoken with dozens, if not hundreds of Haitians who knew that they were drawing unsafe water from local streams and wells, but had no other choice,

When I returned at the end of March 2010, I was more committed to learning about the water crisis, and doing what I could to change it.

Last year, I gave up my Christmas, and challenged others to give up a little of theirs. This year I am asking my friends to help me give up my birthday.

I'm turning 48 years old, and instead of asking for gifts, I'm asking for $48 or more from everyone I know. It's not going to me, though. All of it is going to build freshwater wells for people in developing nations.

A billion people in the world are living without clean water - but how much are they really living? Millions contract deadly diseases from contaminated water. 45,000 people will die this week alone. The lucky ones won't, but still walk hours each day to get dirty water to give to their families.

My birthday wish this year is not for more gifts I don't need; it's to give clean and safe drinking water to some of the billion living without it. I want to make my birthday matter this year.

Please join me.

please note: Because of charity: water's unique model, 100% of all donations go directly to direct water projects costs, and each donation is "proved" and tracked to the village it helped when projects are complete.