Guiding principles:
    -  CAPACITY BUILDING: building the capacity within a community to understand, finance, implement, manage, maintain, and utilize a system
    - APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY: finding technical solutions that fit a community's ability to implement, utilize, operate and maintain a system
    - SOCIO-CULTURAL COMPATIBILITY: considering how traditions, beliefs, experiences, and community structures impact a system
    - HOLISTIC DEVELOPMENT: considering the "whole" of a community and not just one component; water, sanitation, health, education, economy, ...

• Education at all, and about all phases of the project

• Mentor the development of an active water committee
• Assist in preparation of a project use plan
• Technical training on operation and maintenance
• Emphasis on community ownership

• Cultural and religious beliefs take precedent over technical expedience

• People will do or use what they are used to
• Traditional practices can only be changed very slowly
• Communities must do the work of "committees" in their traditional fashion 
• Rapid change causes problems

Examples:
- Lahu hill tribe: We did not use an seemingly fine water source because it might upset the spirits of the steams to mix waters.

- Lahu and Aka hill tribes: We compromised on building two systems instead of one because communities don't completely trust their neighbors

- Hmong hill tribe: No experience with toilets makes latrine implementation by necessity a very careful and slow process. The best solution may be do nothing.

- Quechua people: 

• Phased implementation

• If it is not absolutely necessary don't use it
• Gravity fed water system
• Simplicity over performance