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	Introduction   Kenya: Water jars   Kenya: Loading donkeys   Kenya: Shallow wells   Ethiopia: Rural ponds   Bangladesh: Research centre		Harvesting rural water, Ethiopia Ayele Tadesse stands in front of a map of Ethopia in a schoolroom in the village of Katchama. He’s a tall, educated man, an English teacher, but the problem he is wrestling with today is water. "I teach in this school but I live in the town because there is no water here," he told BBC World Service. "Each day I walk to school. It takes me over three hours." The drought affects everyone, educated and poor alike. People gather in the village to discuss the school but the district education officer Hassan Amdra knows that he can’t talk about education without talking about water. "What shall they do? Build a new school or construct a new pond?," he asks. "This area has many problems with regard to the school, but the water problem affects the school too." Murky brown water The education officer and the village education committee are trying to bring piped water to the village, but for now the villagers must rely on the existing pond, with its small pool of murky brown water. "There is enough for two or three weeks. After that they will have to start walking to the Awash river again – a walk that takes 12 hours." Seifu Telahun is a local priest who sits on the village water committee. "We want clean water and we want to be healthy," he explained. "Four thousand people rely on this pond. The committee organises for the silt to be dug out. We collect money from our people and pay for a guard at the pond. "We try and keep the cattle out of the water. But the water depends on the weather. Last year there was no rain and there was no water.” Look after themselves "No one can control the weather. But the Ethiopian Government could do more to educate and train communities to look after themselves," argues Tagene Haille Giorgis, field officer for the World Food Programme in the region. "The government is planning to dig another 5,000 ponds. But it is not just a case of digging more ponds. They have to create the awareness and train the communities to dig their own ponds. "When a community uses its own labour they feel a sense of ownership," says Giorgis. Related audio: Listen to community leaders, including Ayele Tadesse, discussing the water crisis in Katchama Source: Solutions, programme 1, Ethiopia (April 2003) Listen to the radio series: Solutions parts 1-4 BBC World Service visited Katchama, in February 2003

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