Four year old Amina carries five litres of water back to her home in Kibaya Town in Tanzania. The container is very heavy and she has to keep putting it down on the floor as she finds it hard to carry. Fortunately she doesn't have far to walk.

Carrying water was described as Amina's education as she was learning to be a woman. In Tanzania, as in many developing countries, women and children are responsible for collecting their family's water and children often start this job at a very early age.

There are three schools in her town but education is not free and many poor families like Amina's can't afford to send their children to school.

Five year old S Devavinayagee is pictured with her mother Mrs B Nagaratham in Kullampatti, India. Her mother looks after the new WaterAid handpump in the village.

The village set up a group, called a sangam, and learnt about their water project, hygiene and other skills like leadership. They now grow bananas from the water from the well. They sell the bananas and the money they raise goes back to the sangam. They then use this money to buy more farm animals for the community.

"I didn't think water would change my life," her mother says, "but after our training we realised what was possible. Many people who have seen how our village has changed has asked for help setting up sangams too. I want all my children to go to school. My two eldest are at school now."

Six year old Agilane Saide (in the black T-shirt) sits with her family at her home in Biarro Sanjala, Mozambique. With the help from WaterAid and WaterAid's partner organisation ESTAMOS her family now has a well in their yard, right next to their house. Her mother Fatima explains the difference their new water supply has brought to her and her children.

"Before we had the well I used to collect my water from the swamp and it was very bad. We used to get many diseases like diarrhoea. Before in the wet season water would flow in to the swamp from the village, taking all the dirt and rubbish with it and it was very dirty.

Then in the dry season there would by very little water and we would have to dig out holes at the bottom of the mud. This was very hard work - it was tiring and I used to get back problems too.

Now that we have this well the water is much cleaner and we don't have stomach problems any more. Now we don't have any problems - we no longer have to drink dirty water and when it rains no dirty water enters the well.

Often before the children could not wash before they went to school or they would have to go and collect water before they could wash themselves. They always had to collect water before school. Now they can wash very quickly and then go to school. They always go to school on time now. Their health is much better too now. It is a good well, it has released our burden."

Seven year old Punam Kumari Shaha brushes her teeth before going to school in Malahanma, Nepal. Her community worked with WaterAid's partner NEWAH to build their own water supply and she is now able to use clean, safe water from a pump that is near her house.

As part of the project her community is also learning about hygiene education and Punam has been attending health education classes at school once a week. She has an older sister and they now teach each other and their family about good hygiene practices.

By educating people about good hygiene and the links between poor water, poor sanitation and disease communities can gain the full benefits from their new water and sanitation projects.