The project was completed three years ago and now 150kms of pipeline is bringing safe clean water

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The project was completed three years ago, and now 150kms of pipeline is bringing safe, clean water to 60,000 people living in three small towns and 28 villages. "Then the rains came, and along with the rain came cholera because we didn't have any clean water." In just two years, nearly one-third of his neighbours in the village of Gond, in the centre of the country, were wiped out by the epidemic, but now WaterAid is supporting the villagers in their attempts to tame their cruel environment.Further south, six hours drive from the capital Addis Ababa, the Hitosa water project offers impressive evidence of what can be achieved. People like Buze Mulu who, at the age of 60, has seen it all "The drought of 1994 killed many people," he recalls. On average, each mother loses two children in infancy.In the capital, Dhaka, 20 per cent of people live in slums.. Perhaps more than any other country, Ethiopia will forever be linked in the public mind with the horrors of drought and famine.

Yet, with WaterAid's support, some of Ethiopia's poorest people are taking control of their local water resources. Establishing a waterpoint as a business is all about improving quality of life."- Jane LandonBangladesh factfileq Daily 700 children under five die from diarrhoeal disease.In urban slums one in five children die in the first year of life. Another storm is brewing on the Euphrates which starts in the mountains of Turkey and runs south across Syria and through Iraq to the Persian Gulf.Mr Dodds believes water wars - like oil wars - are not an impossibility. In fact Nato held a meeting on this issue in the former Soviet bloc just recently.Meanwhile WaterAid gets on with the job of providing clean drinking water and efficient sanitation to countries of the Third World and stemming the estimated three million deaths per year of children under five from diarrhoea caused by a diet of dirty water.Heard that mission statement before? Well, it is true there are numerous charities working for good in the world's poorer regions whether it be on water, food, health or education, but few seem as focused as WaterAid.With 1.4 billion people (about one quarter of the world's population) currently without access to clean water and two billion without access to sanitation, the charity specifically does not take on what it cannot deliver. The donation from the pharmaceutical company funds a two-year pilot project to develop safe water and sanitation facilities and to promote greater health and hygiene awareness. WaterAid is also funding an urban sanitation research project to ensure that the most appropriate and cost-effective latrine and sewage disposal technologies are employed."The challenge is to reach the poor people who need water who are often invisible," says Brocklehurst."These are people who work all day in order to eat that night. A caretaker appointed from the local committee collects the money and makes sure that the pump is maintained.

On average, Dhaka slum dwellers spend less than a penny a day for their supply. The money repaid is used to fund other water points, and so far one waterpoint has paid for itself within a year.WaterAid's work in Dhaka currently receives substantial funding from Glaxo Wellcome plc. As a result, DSK has won a hard-fought battle to gain the support of the Dhaka City Corporation and the city water authority," she adds.The waterpoints develop a regular clientele, not unlike a corner shop for water. A second smaller committee, of men only, deals with problems of pressure from mustans or corrupt petty officials such as meter readers," says Brocklehurst."The waterpoints set up by DSK are legal and the bills get paid - a most unusual occurrence in Dhaka's slums. To combat this, DSK set up two committees for the running of each waterpoint. Water collection here, as in many parts of the developing world, is women's work.