I remember vividly the mixed feelings of disbelief and outrage I felt as a child when I learned that the water flowing out of the taps at home had to be paid for. After all, I reasoned, we don’t have to pay for air! Remarkably, it took the United Nations 50 years to declare water a basic human right, and on the eve of World Water Day (March 22) we look at a growing crisis affecting us all (page 12). Islands are a microcosm of life, and the setting for our primary project designed to get children thinking about how to agree rules for survival (page 19).

Joyce Arnold