Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association relief news update from China.
Since the autumn of 2009, more than 25 million people across southwestern regions of the nation have been suffering from an extreme drought that is parching some eight million hectares of arable land. Our Association members report from Yunnan Province, one of the hard-hit regions.

Chinese Correspondent (F): I am standing beside a lake near Dali, Yunnan. Previously, this area was covered with water. The water should be deep. This scene is very common in the southwestern provinces nowadays.

Chinese Correspondent (F): This area is a typical case. It got no rain since last May. The break of the land is big enough for me to put my fist in. Many places are like this. There will be no harvest this year.

VOICE: Global warming has intensified the crisis, with many regional water bodies dropping to their lowest levels in a century.

Drought-afflicted farmer (F): The climate has gone bad in recent years. In some previous years we had some big rain, and the water was plenty. This year is the worst.

Chinese Correspondent (F): The water reservoir behind me provides irrigation water for seven villages. The water level dropped four meters since the beginning of the drought.
People also culture fish in this reservoir, and the fish feed has polluted it so people can’t drink directly from it.

Drought-afflicted farmer (M): Villages get water from the Xiaobai River down there. People from our village must go there at 4 or 5 AM. If we go there later than that, we can’t get any water.

VOICE: In March, Supreme Master Ching Hai donated over US$4,000, expressing her love and prayers as she asked that our Association members go help the most desperate and the neglected. Combined with contributions from our Chinese Association members, the total US$5,500 could obtain approximately US$39,400 in emergency supplies purchased in the United States, based on the cost of living in China.
Covering their own travel expenses, our native Association members went to remote parts of Yunnan Province where they delivered crucial water supplies and also worked to provide longer-term support.

Chinese Correspondent (F): Supreme Master Ching Hai showed her concern, donating 1,200 buckets of drinking water to distribute to the victims here. She also donated money to dig three wells for the elementary school and local people.
Behind me are two wells under construction. They will provide drinking water for 2,000 people.

VOICE: The aid was welcomed by the local residents as well as the Qujing and Baoshan District governments, who both also requested Supreme Master Ching Hai’s continued assistance.

Chinese Correspondent (F): The well behind me is ready for use. It can provide drinking water for about 400 teachers and students in this elementary school. The water supply is sufficient to provide water 24 hours daily nonstop.

Chinese Correspondent (F): Supreme Master Television reporting from Yunnan.

VOICE: We thank Supreme Master Ching Hai for her steadfast concern and care for the drought-stricken, as well as our Association relief team for their diligent service to those in need.

Our prayers for the resiliency of the Chinese people and that sweet, abundant rain may soon arrive as we strive meanwhile to alleviate such extreme conditions through our greater kindness toward all beings.