How can I sum it all up ?

What have I learnt from my time in India ?

I've only had a week in India and inside that week only a few hours in reality to talk to people living in the villages and slums, the staff supporting them from WaterAid and local organisations but this is what I've begun to understand :

Its so much more than 'taps and toilets' ...
As human beings we're in a pretty bad place when we have no control over our lives or our own destiny. If you don't have have access to safe water and sanitation then you don't have control over the most basic of human needs. The idea of having 'choices' over what you can do is very distant prospect if you can't even choose to not give your child unsafe water that you know will make them ill because its all you've got.
No matter where they live and in what conditions it was clear to me this week that having those basic needs allowed people to be happy, take pride in themselves and look to the future.

They don't need our pity ...
No-one we met was after handouts or looking for sympathy, they are keen to progress and once they have been given the right support and training they were perfectly capable of sorting out their problems and helping others to sort out theirs too.

Investing in the people is what makes the difference ...
The model that WaterAid have put together works and should be seen as a sucess that can be followed by other organisations including state/government groups. If you only spend money on the assets and not the people then ultimately the assets will fail and there won't be anyone there to mend them. Mobilising communities to be responsible for themselves and take ownership is what makes a sustainable solution.

Children will always surprise you and may be more capable than you realise ...
We may think that our children are too young to be responsible and have opinions that count but the children we met proved to us all that they are great 'agents for change', have the power to influence their elders and have a great capacity for learning. They should definitely be seen as part of the solution ...

Padli Village school pupils with James and Matt