Drought takes a heavy toll on boarding schools

Lining up to get a few litres of water; No bath or tooth brushing for weeks; Clouds of flies crawling on the bed sheets, along the edges of bowls, and over the latrines; Green vegetables a rarity in their diet. These are the realities of daily life for more than 22,000 students and teachers in 68 boarding schools of Shizong County, one of the areas worst-hit by the severe drought in South West China's Yunnan Province.

One or two mouthfuls of water

Water bottles and plastic containers under school-desks are a common scene in the classrooms of Longga Complete Primary School, tucked deep inside this mountainous district. Most of the students are of Miao, Yao, Zhuang and Yi ethnic groups.

"I receive a bottleful of water (about 1.5 litres) every day. I drink one or two mouthfuls and save the rest to wash my face in the morning and my feet at night." Fourth grader Gao Xiaoxiu, aged 12, said.

"The well at the mountain top has dried up. A truck carries water to our school every week and we can get 2 to 3 bottles of water." She said. The girl also carried a large container of water from home - about 2 hours' trek on the mountain road - when she returned to school every week.

"According to humanitarian aid standards, a person shall receive at least 15 litres of water for daily use and drinking." Mr. Yang Zhenbo, UNICEF China's Water and Sanitation Specialist said in an assessment trip to the boarding schools of the County. "Currently, in the schools we visited, most of the children receive less than 4 litres of water every day."

Deteriorating hygiene

With persistent drought conditions since last September, Gao Xiaoxiu and her peers have learned to reuse their water several times before it ends up watering the campus flowers. To wash her face she pours out a tiny bit of water to cover the bottom of her plastic basin to wet her face. Next, it will be used to wash hands and freshen her up after playing sports under the scorching sun. By now the water has turned dark and filthy yet it still offers a bit comfort for washing her feet before going to bed.

Left with such a small amount of water for personal hygiene, bathing or brushing her teeth has become a once in two or three weeks' luxury. But when asked if he washes his hands after toilet and before meals, first grader He Jianqiang and his peers answer "yes."

The 9 year old boy's dark and coarse skinned hands with tiny cracks and dirt-filled finger nails look like the hands of an older man. He ran up to the dormitory with his friends – a dilapidated classroom-turned-dorm room where he shared sleeping quarters with more than 20 boys on the ground – and washed his hands with muddy water in the basin. None of the basins kept clean water in boys' and girls' dorms.

Lack of water storage 

Zhao Junlong, Principal of Fenglongtan Primary School says the daily water consumption per student has decreased to 1.5 litres - about one quarter of the ration from before the drought. The school used to collect rainwater from the roof and store it in four water cellars. "Three of the water cellars dried up and the concrete bottoms of two are cracked." Zhao said.

All of the 128 boarding students rely on water transported by truck from 4 kilometres away. "We have to pay 40 yuan for a tank of water (about 5 cubic metres) and the government promises to cover the remaining 60 yuan cost." He said. The bill hasn't been paid yet.

The only water cellar in use could only keep 20 cubic metres of water. "If we can have a bigger one, about 100 cubic metres, we can transport more water to school and increase the water allocation." Zhao said.

Besides water cellars, lack of funds to procure water tanks and cover transport cost was the biggest obstacle to deliver water to schools and communities in remote mountainous areas, according to Ms Cao Lihua, deputy County Governor.

"Each tank cost about 5000 yuan and we got only two from the government." Driver Yan Jinlin said. "I deliver water to 747 households in 7 villages and can barely meet the needs. If we can have 3 more tanks, it will greatly relieve the pressure."

Rising concern for nutrition

The severe drought has not only cut off the water supplies but has also affected the food supply provided by the school canteens.

"The vegetables in our school garden died up and the prices of rice, green vegetables and potatoes have doubled or tripled at the market as there is no harvest since last autumn." Li Yufa, Principal of the Central Primary School in Kuishan Town said.

At lunchtime, fifth grader Duan Siguo of Shubo Primary School squatted in the playground with his peers and ate the same food he has eaten for several days – 3 packets of pickled chilli or bean curd brought from home, some rice, and sliced potatoes with soup.

"We can only ensure that the children can have enough to eat and the quality becomes secondary." Zhao Junlong, Principal of Fenglongtan Primary School said. "The canteen provides at most a meal with vegetable once a week and the meat provision has reduced from twice a week to once."

"If the canteen staff forget to close the windows, rats from nearby rural households will sneak in." Principal Li said. The canteen used chemicals provided by local CDC to kill the flies and rats. As the drought killed crops across the county, more rats turned from the field to farm houses.

"Lack of water and sound hygiene practices in crowded school dormitories increases the danger of epidemic outbreaks like diarrheal and intestinal parasites, which will further worsen the nutrition." Yang Zhenbo, UNICEF China's Water and Sanitation Specialist warned.

UNICEF in action

Based on the assessment trip concluded on April 9th, to serve the immediate needs of remote communities and boarding schools in Shizong County, UNICEF will support the water transportation cost, provide water tanks to increase delivery capacity, donate purification chemicals and improve sanitation and hygiene. UNICEF is also working with the local counterparts on plans for protection of water sources and improving boarding schools' water storage and management capacities, as well as improving health and hygiene.