Eight local champions selected in efforts to pipe clean water into homes in rural China

In rural China, hours spent trekking to the nearest water source only yields villagers as much water as he can carry home. During the annual drought, this worsens as villagers are forced to ration whatever little water they manage to collect from increasingly parched water sources.

In its second instalment, a revolutionary collaboration between Lien AID and the China Association of Poverty Alleviation and Development (CAPAD) continues to combat water woes in rural China, selecting an additional 8 Student Village Officers (SVOs) /大学生村官 to implement appropriate water projects in their poverty-stricken villages. The program ensures the sustainability of these projects through its holistic approach of identifying, equipping and empowering local champions with knowledge and skills to tackle the water and sanitation crisis in rural China.

The 8 Student Village Officers (SVOs)/ 大学生村官 will receive training and guidance, empowering them to carry out water projects that aim to store and pipe clean water into homes in their villages across the Chongqing and Guizhou Provinces.

A sustained water supply will boost agricultural and poultry-rearing activities, potentially increasing incomes of beneficiaries in these villages. Water storage facilities also ensure that these communities are well-equipped to ride out the annual drought when it hits. Health and hygiene training to raise awareness of the importance of drinking clean water, water conservation, protection of water sources and the environment will also be carried out, in an effort to catalyze behavioural change.

The projects are currently underway, and are scheduled to complete by end July 2013. The improved access to clean water will benefit an estimated 9, 164 villagers.

CAPAD is an NGO registered with the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and is endorsed by the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development. One of its key programs is “Supporting the development of SVOs at poverty stricken villages or “支持贫困村大学生村官成长工程“. The program started in 2010/11, and conducts training on poverty alleviation for SVOs who have been assigned to work in poverty stricken villages across China.