Drought forces Chinese kids to make tough journey

On a Tuesday, the most depressing day of the week in our opinion, it's often healthy to gain a bit of perspective.

While the combination of rain and work might make you feel like things are lower than they've been since at least last Tuesday, it turns out that, yet again, there's someone else who has it much worse.

In Southwest China, the locals are currently experiencing their worst drought in 50 years. It's affecting 17 million people and has hit the Xu Yong County in the Sichuan Province the hardest.

The population of Chahe village have been forced into a very tight spot. As the streams have dried up, they're in severe need of drinking water. While 8-year-old Yang Wei 's parents are at work, she has to make numerous trips to local caves in order to collect the water they need.

Just one slight catch. The caves are positioned in the middle of a vertical cliff which is 1km from the village. Oh and there's no proper road, just some narrow walkways. Walkways that can be as wide as 1 metre and as narrow as half a foot.

Yeah, suddenly your Tuesday doesn't seem too bad, huh?

(Images: Rex Features)