What would you do?

At a social norms focused session at the What Works? Summit, expertly facilitated by Amy Bank, I heard this insight.

A development agency was introducing clean, flowing, piped water into a community. To that point the water had been gathered by women and carried uphill to the community. The development agency thought this water initiative would naturally meet with full support from women in that community. It did not. They resisted. From listening to and conversations with the women in that community the resistance was based on losing the one social space each day where they were together, with no male company. They could talk, support and perhaps even organise in relation to issues they experienced and perhaps shared. This had been going on for a long time. Clean running water would take away that important social space.

So, what would you do? Or what would you have done different? Please review the scomments below and then submit your comment in the box at the end of this thread.