Conclusion

 Naively when I first started this module I thought that I'd run out of things to write, and that the answer was straight forward. During this blogging process I've learnt that the issue of water and sanitation is a more complex issue than I ever thought. At first I believed my focus would be on how the built environment affects water sources, how pollution occurs in manufacturing processes and in construction to name two, as I come from a background of study in Architecture. Instead sanitation became an issue that I felt needed to be explored. When discussing water, especially in the press, the focus is on providing drinking water for communities that are not part of the conventional piped water systems. During my research I've realised how sanitation, drinking water, politics, environment and gender are all interlinked. There is not a simple, one size fits all solution for issues relating to water and sanitation.

“Water is life, but sanitation is dignity” is now a statement that I support whole heartedly, one that before I started researching this topic I agreed with superficially. But now I try to put myself into others shoes, to imagine how I would feel using a pit latrine in the middle of the night, of not being able to go to school because of my period, of feeling forgotten about.

Climate change gives space for the second wave of urbanisation in sub-Saharan Africa to transform sanitation and water infrastructure, there is space to develop communities which are self reliant, resourceful, healthy and clean. The complex issues that surround this topic will be discussed by communities, local and governmental authorities, entrepreneurs, and NGOs as time progresses. For development to be successful each of these groups must be willing to act co-dependenttl, sharing information of successes and failures in order to create a beneficial future for the citizens of developing regions.

I hope that as my lifetime progresses the number of people without access to sanitation will reduce and we will find ways to look after each other as human beings.