The China Women's Development Foundation (CWDF) and gmw.cn jointly started a five-month painting contest in Beijing, ahead the 22nd World Water Day on March 22, to raise public awareness of conserving water. [cwdf.org.cn]

The China Women's Development Foundation (CWDF) and gmw.cn jointly started a five-month painting contest in Beijing, ahead the 22nd World Water Day on March 22, to raise public awareness of conserving water.

With the goal of promoting the development, use, protection and management of water resources, the contest, 'Water Cellar for Mothers – Stories Between Water and Me', is open for participants to submit paintings and photographs from March, and the winners will be announced in August.

The contest encourages primary and high school students, members of the public and organization across the country to participate, especially those from middle and western China where the 'Water Cellar for Mothers' project has been implemented.

The works to be submitted should reflect elements relating to the program, and creative ideas on water or water conditions.

Besides prizes, winners will be given opportunities to go aboard to attend international exchanges on water issues, and their work will be published on major Chinese web portals and in other media.

Anyone interested may visit www.cwdf.org.cn for more information.

Water Cellar for Mothers

In order to help people in western China, especially women, to shake off poverty due to water shortages, the CWDF launched the 'Water Cellar for Mothers' project in 2001. The project intends to raise donations from across society to build concrete water cellars for people who suffer from serious water shortages in western China.

A water cellar measuring 36 cubic meters can collect a total of 50 to 80 cubic meter rainwater in a year. This amount of water can sufficiently provide for a family of three to five people for a whole year.

The 'Water Cellar for Mothers' project has expanded to southwestern provinces, benefiting a million people in 15 provinces, municipalities and regions, including Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, Inner Mongolia, Sichuan, Chongqing, Guizhou, Yunnan, and Guangxi.

Up until the end of 2003, the "Water Cellar for Mothers" project had invested a special fund of 110 million yuan (U.S. $18 million). A total of 900,000 water cellars, and 1,070 small-scale water supply projects have been established.