Thirty-seven technicians from 18 countries are attending a
training program on rainwater catchment technologies which kicked
off on Monday in Lanzhou, capital of the northwestern province of
Gansu.
The program, offered by the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources
and financed by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, will run until
Oct. 20. It will feature classroom teaching, special lectures,
seminars, field surveys and practical projects.
For the convenience of foreign trainees, who came from New
Zealand, Rwanda, India and other countries, training courses will
offered in English and special lectures will be given in Chinese
with English interpretation, according to the organizers.
Gansu, among the driest regions in China, is the most successful
Chinese province in harvesting rainwater. Thanks to the past
decade-long efforts, the province has built a total of 2.53 million
pits or cellars to catch rainwater, providing stable sources of
drinking water for 2.52 million people and helping irrigate 300,000
hectares of farmland.
David Dushimimana, a trainee from Rwanda, said the training
program gave him a precious chance to learn about China's advanced
rainwater catchment technologies and on his return he will use what
he learns to help people in his country where little rainfall is
seen all year round and where irrigated farming remains their chief
way of production.
The program was sponsored by the Chinese ministries of commerce
and water resources, the provincial government of Gansu and the
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO), and was carried out by the provincial water resources
department, the provincial institute of water resources science and
the International Rainwater Catchment System Association.
(People's Daily September 9, 2003)
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