Letters to my girls: Running the Sahara Premiere

September 10, 2006

Tonight is the premiere night for Running the Sahara, a film I produced, at the Toronto Film Festival. I chose to do this movie because I thought it was more than just a chance to make a film. On the trip to Africa I recently told you about, I saw first-hand the public health issues of our time—the world water crisis which is at its worst in Africa. I also saw the hope in the people there when they have access to clean water that can save millions of lives. One day, I went and collected water with a girl there and we walked a couple miles to get the water. I realized how incredibly strong she was, and it was because she had access to clean drinking water. I realized how inconvenient that was for her, and how much of her day that took up and took away from her studying. We don’t think about it. We go and get a glass of water and then we can go to school or read a book or do whatever we want. If a lot of our time is spent just trying to survive, that obviously takes away time for us just focusing on things that might lift us out of poverty. Clean water is also a critical component to rebuilding shattered economies. Imagine the profound effect a well can have on the lives and dreams of all the people who have access to it—clean water can put entire communities onto that first rung of the development ladder. Ultimately I'm not particularly excited that we live in a culture that celebrities are listened to more than people with real knowledge most of the time, but I do recognize it. When you’re a celebrity, you start to feel a level of responsibility to direct attention to things that actually matter more than to silly things like where you had dinner last night. I want to use the attention I to bring awareness to the need for clean water. Worldwide, over 1 billion people lack access to clean water. In addition, every 15-20 seconds, a child in the developing world dies from water-related disease – and worse yet, it is entirely preventable. Knowing the facts and knowing the availability of solutions prompted me to help found an organization called H2O Africa, which will focus specifically on raising funds to support the execution of clean water programs in Africa. With our team and support from others, we will be able to make a profound impact on the lives of so many people in Africa.