Empowering villagers to manage water

July 16, 2009
By Pete Mason

I was walking down a dusty path a few months ago in India, where the Ganges meets the Bay of Bengal. The Sunderban Islands is one of the poorest places in all of India. And it is here that I was inspired, again, by what works.

I was traveling with a small group from Water For People, a Denver-based international development group dedicated to creating sustainable water and sanitation systems. Eighty percent of all sickness and disease worldwide is water-related and two million people die every year from it. There's no other word for it: this is a humanitarian crisis - extreme and widespread.

But just off this dusty path, we came to a small group of homes clustered around a well and pump, protected by a small bamboo and thatched roof cover. As we stopped to examine the well, a crowd of proud locals gathered around. Among them were children and residents of the area who manage this system. Yes, system. A clean water system that works - here - in this remote and impoverished corner of the world.

Here's how it works.
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