Fieldnotes: Blogging on UNICEF's child survival work in the field

	© UNICEF Kenya/00366/Noorani
	KENYA: Doreas Ejore (16 year old) drinks water from a UNICEF-supplied hand pump in Napeililim Mixed Primary School in Lodwar town in Turkana District.

For the final 12 days of 2008, UNICEF celebrity Ambassadors and supporters are posting daily blog entries about the impact UNICEF Inspired Gifts are having on children around the world. Joel Madden—lead vocalist for the critically acclaimed, platinum-album-selling band Good Charlotte—was named UNICEF’s newest Ambassador in 2008, and recently returned from a field visit in the Central African Republic.

Imagine not being able to take a bath or a shower. Imagine not being able to turn on the tap for a glass of water, or to wash your hands… your dishes… your clothes. Imagine that the water you drink everyday has the power to kill you and all those you love.

Can you imagine this? No, probably not. I know I couldn’t, but I saw it firsthand not too long ago when I visited the Central African Republic. Clean and accessible water is a luxury for more than half the world’s children. Having sat, talked and sung with, and also hugged some of the children living this nightmare, I will not stop until all children have this simple thing that we take for granted—clean water.

Right now you can help bring clean water to children in need by purchasing a Water Well Hand Pump. For $500, this reliable, durable hand pump can give children the gift of life.

I know the economy is really tough right now, so please consider pulling together your family and friends and all chipping in to buy a gift for a child whose life you can change forever.

I am Joel Madden, and I believe in zero.

25,000 young children die every day from preventable causes—things like malnutrition, poor sanitation and lack of safe, drinkable water. UNICEF believes that number should be zero.