Drought!

Here in our part of China we have a definite dry season and a definite rainy season. Rainy season is from late May to early September. Dry season is every day outside of those months. So, life here depends on getting enough rain in those three and a half months to last for the other eight and a half. Unfortunately, Rainy Season '09 did not perform up to its usual standards and so we were in a deficit for the province. Experts in our province felt that we had enough in the reserves to make it til next rainy season with not too much trouble. However, to go with a lack of rain last summer, this winter has been extremely warm with almost zero cloud coverage. Our province is in the Tropics in the South and sits on the Tibetan plateau in the North, so we get a lot of hot sunshine. More water has evaporated and more has been used this Winter than normal to keep crops and vegetation alive. Thus we are in a major drought.

With this drought, people are now having a hard go of finding drinking water in rural areas. Cisterns in villages are bone dry and water is having to be trucked in. It comes at a cost, however, and rural Chinese farmers aren't known for their large bank accounts. We keep hoping for some relief for the province and some rain to come, but rainy season is still two and a half months away. Please remember this area and the people facing this drought.