8-year-old water-girl a godsend to parched th...

8-year-old water-girl a godsend to parched throats
(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-08-12 07:58
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ZHOUQU, Gansu - Amid a severe shortage of water following the worst mudslides to hit the country in six decades, a petite girl stands on the roadside in Zhouqu county handing out free drinking water to survivors and relief workers.
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Wang Yongxia, 8, may well be the youngest volunteer in the county.
The girl walks around with a huge 10-kg water container on her back, making her look even smaller than she is.
Since Sunday, hours after the landslide flattened the county, Wang has been walking to a valley 40 minutes' walk away to fetch water to distribute to any passer-by she spots.
Wang is not working alone.
With the landslide cutting off all electricity and water supply and choking roads with piles of mud and rocks, thousands of survivors and relief workers are roaming the streets with parched throats.

Wang Yongxia, an 8-year-old volunteer in Zhouqu, is helping to get drinking water for victims and rescue workers. [PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY]
Yan Xiyun, a student of the local No 3 Middle School, decided to help. She asked her two sisters to walk with her to the nearby valley to bring back spring water.
Wang Yongxia, who is not related to Yan, heard of her plan and joined the sisters.
The four girls, all younger than 16, each got a big plastic container and set off for the valley.
After returning to the county, they collected a number of disposable cups and began distributing water.
Fetching water in this remote mountainous town is not easy.
Every day, the girls set off for the valley at around 7 am and make several round trips until sundown.
"In the past three days, we have walked to the valley and back more than 20 times. Each journey takes around 40 minutes," Yan said.
"We haven't calculated how many cups of water we have distributed," said Wang, as she passed a cup of water to a hurrying passer-by. "We are very busy."