Aid is not Charity: Published on 15 Feb 2007

Yesterday, after attending the seminar for the whole day, I reached the office only to find a press clipping of that day in my inbox. The newspaper reported one of my barracks (temporary settlements) having problem with drinking water. The people complained that the water is salty and yellowish, and they are getting skin rashes when they take bath from the water.

Immediately, I have to call my staff and went to the barrack, and found clean water flowing continuously through the taps. When we inquired, we found that they were mixing both ground water as well as municipal water which is meant for drinking. More over the municipal water delivered dirty water for few hours due to maintenance activity.

I have asked my staff to separate drinking water from bore well water, and label it properly. Also we will be conducting water quality tests for both the waters and see if there is any serious problem in the water quality. If things are still worse, we might need to supply drinking water through tankers.

On coming back to the house, my house mates started having serious discussions regarding our efforts. We have already provided shelter for them, but why do we need to do maintenance activities also. I was trying to explain to them that the concept of aid moved far beyond Charity. Now access to aid is a fundamental right. Aid should be provided in sufficient quality, quantity and in a dignified way. All the major agencies follow these principles which are famously called as 'Red Cross Code of Conduct'.