Juan: We always teach students to not look at people through a deficiency model. Don't just look at people and see what they lack. We believe every community (no matter how oppressed or deprived) has something to contribute to their "liberation". 

Meena: We work with groups in India that seek to persuade Dalits in communities all across India to give up their jobs and to even smash their places of work (latrines). These groups lead the action, persuade and support people in the process of Dalits giving up their internalization of "this is the best job we can do".  But they still need technological support, this is what we can do.

David: Solutions never come from the top down. slum dwellers, shack dwellers are forming federations to build houses, build latrines, etc. They don't have the political power to demand change but they can at least work towards it. Orangi Pilot Project is accountable to citizens of Karachi. 

Donna: What is the role of government in supporting or not supporting your work? How does your project engage with the gov't?

Emanuele: Gov't. contributes very little and even when they promise to, they fail to deliver. There are also problems of disconnections between the values of commercial, government, nonprofit paradigms. Cost recovery is a regressive way to fund essential services – gov't does not contribute and poor are left to fend for themselves. many donor agencies leaving sewage outside because it is too expensive to deal with it  But teh required investment to halfve the proptrtion of people in areas that are not connected to teh sweage system are equal to 75% of the bailout of northern rock.

David: We lost 20 years because of the false belief that privatization would save us particularly privtatization of services.

Darko: Nothing was a false belief. It was intentional. We need to have alternate systems of production, consumption, etc like a cooperative structure. 

Jon: Are there opportunities for socially just, culturally appropriate leapfrogging in sanitation?

John Kandulu – Wateraid aims to promote such technology. We do this not only to use this resource but also because the traditional sewage model doesn't work. However, if we scale it up too much, we end up polluting the environment. So some experimentation is needed.

David: Leapfrogging works the other way as well. From south to north.

Jonathan Parkinson: Reuse of excrement is an ancient practice but we need standards and a debate around those standards.

Doug: Could the microfinance model work for sanitation?

David: Microfinance doesn't support groups. It is a one to one relationship. It's not the answer. My fave city in Brazil has a sewer for everyone but that required years of organizing and political movement. That's what you need.

Eric: Community sanitation is dangerous for girls and women. They might get raped or sexually assaulted while using those facilities.

David: But shitting in a plastic bag is ideological bullshit. That's not a real alternative.