Life in Drought-hit Regions

1m students suffer water, vegetable supply shortages

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-03-28 17:10

NANNINGL - More than 1 million students in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region are eating and bathing less as a prolonged drought parches southwest China.

Local governments are transporting water to more than 4,500 schools to ensure water supplies of 20 kg per person per day to more than 1 million students, according to Guangxi education authorities.

Students are not short of drinking water, but water for washing and other water-consuming activities is not being guaranteed, the education authorities said.

The government of Hechi City is transporting 1,326 tonnes of water to schools every day at a high cost.

Boarding students at Wenqian Primary School in Bama County, Hechi, have complained that they haven't eaten any green-leafed vegetables for about four months. Rice, noodles and soybean were the only few choices on their menu.

The drought has plagued the city since August last year, destroying all vegetables in nearby areas. Soybean is the only vegetable the school can get to feed its 234 students, said Lan Haizhou, principal of the boarding school.

"I want to eat vegetables so much. My parents have not seen any green-leafed vegetables for months either," said Tan Yufeng, a 12-year-old girl at the school.