Help Build a Well for Bono’s Birthday! The 12th Annual AWF Campaign

It’s that time again: Our guy is turning another year older. This Saturday, May 10, Bono will be The Big 5-4 – and for the 12th year in a row, the African Well Fund is inviting U2 fans (and everyone who is inspired by Bono’s tireless activism on behalf of Africa) to donate to the Build a Well for Bono’s Birthday fundraiser. The event actually began on April 1, but there’s still time to donate to this worthy cause that will benefit a community-based water and sanitation project in the Ebo municipality, which is located in Kwanza Sul Province in Angola. The 12,000+ children, women and men living in the area will have greater access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation once this project is completed, and we can all play a part in making it happen.

In the past, the well building projects for this campaign have benefited the people of:

Angola
Benin
Burkina Faso
Liberia
Mali
Uganda
Zimbabwe

Aside from the warm fuzzies you’ll get from participating, the African Well Fund will provide everyone who donates the option of receiving a limited-edition, 8.5 x 11 inch print of a 2012 painting of Bono by artist Janelle Doyle. I don’t know what it looks like, but I’m guessing it’s nothing short of awesome. If you want one (of course you do!), be sure to say so in the comment box when donating.

I’m a diehard U2 fan like you; I’ve seen them in five or six different cities (not nearly enough), I subscribed to Showtime just for the month of November 2011 for the sole purpose of watching “From the Sky Down” on my 35th birthday, and I have a pristine copy of “North Side Story” on my night stand – all things that have elicited more than a few eye rolls from my peers. But unlike some fans, I don’t usually ascribe to the “WWBD?” mantra. Why not? Because after all, he’s only human – a great looking, wildly charismatic, incredibly generous and phenomenally talented musical genius of a human. But in this case, I make an exception. I’m doing what Bono would do, and donating to the African Well Fund for his birthday – and you should too! Oh, and don’t forget to tag all your Bono birthday tweets this week with the hashtag #HappyBDayBono. The amazing @U2LyricsDaily1 revived that tag this year (okay, that’s me) – so get on board! Am I buggin’ ya? I don’t mean to bug ya.