GREAT LOVE ACROSS THE TAIWAN STRAITS

#Construction of 785 demonstration water conservation facilities in Tongwei, Huining and Dongxiang counties.

In the past fifty years, Gansu has been afflicted with droughts no less than forty times. Due to the actions of the elements, water and soil have been washed away, leaving only a limited amount of land suitable for farming. Agricultural production has dropped vastly, affecting the subsistence of the people living on the land.

A Tzu Chi fact-finding team arrived in Gansu in April 1998 and spent two months investigating areas afflicted by drought. After their field trip, members of the team held a brainstorming session to design a simple water conservation facility which would conserve the three to five hundred millimeters (12-20 inches) of rainfall per year and supply enough water for drinking, irrigation and livestock farming.

In October of the same year, the construction of water conservation facilities in Tongwei and Huining counties was completed, followed by others in Dongxiang County the following year. An eighty-cubic-meter (2800-cubic-foot) cistern for collecting rainwater and a cellar for storing the water were constructed in the courtyard of every household. With their water supply just in front of their houses, villagers no longer needed to make a long journey to faraway sources to fetch water. Since time and work were saved, some villagers began to plant wild peppers for extra income and the young men in some families did odd jobs during the slack season for farming. The water facilities provided local people the possibility of improving their living conditions, but more importantly they showed the care of the volunteers, which refreshed the hearts of the drought-stricken people.

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