The story of a ride from London to the UN Earth Summit in Jo'burg, S. Africa

Water Matters

Our trip has been themed around 'water' - not least because of the personal importance of finding enough of it for ourselves along the way. Over 1.5 billion people in the world don't have access to safe water. WaterAid are one of the leading charities working in Africa to help those communities most in need to find sustainable solutions.

VISIT REPORTS:

1. WaterAid Ethiopia - In our first visit to a WaterAid project in a slum area of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, we were able to see first hand the work of WaterAid, through one of its partner organisations, Progynist.

2. WaterAid Tanzania - In Dar es Salaam, we saw some shocking conditions, and very contaminated water sources, but were also witness to some inspirational plans by the local community (facilitated by WaterAid) for improvments.

3. WaterAid Malawi - In our final set of WaterAid visits, we saw the instalation of a new water pump in a remote village near Salima, Malawi.

'ESSAYS':

Water Matters - Ruth looks back at some of the WaterAid projects we've visited on our ride.

Reflections on Water - Paul ponders how much we take water for granted back home, compared with the difficulties in finding it we've witnessed on our journey.

Safe water and sanitation is one of the key agenda items in the forthcoming Earth Summit, which we're attending, and helping out at. WaterAid is one of many international organisations pushing for some decent commitments from world leaders. For more info on why water really does matter, visit their summit campaign website - www.watermatters.org.uk