Louise Williams, Pringluan, Central Java – More than three months ago the wells dried up and the villagers began to gather to pray for rain, the elders murmuring fearfully about the last great drought of 1962 when they ate boiled bark and rats.
The village of Pringluan lies in the hot, red eroded hills along the southern coast of Central Java, one of thousands without water as Indonesia's worst drought for 50 years takes hold.
One by one they are selling their animals. For a goat they can buy five tanks of water, for a chicken perhaps a couple of bucketsful. When their animals are gone, the villagers say, they will leave for the cities to look for work as building labourers.
"It is already September," says one middle-aged man, wrapped in a faded, checked sarong, "and look at the sky, so big and empty, the rains will not come soon."
The monsoons are already almost two months late and local meteorologists say the impact of the strong El Nino pattern indicates the wet season may not begin until November or December.
This means millions of farmers now face failed rice crops, severe water shortages and worsening air pollution from thousands of raging forest fires.
The Soeharto Government has already put about one million tonnes of stockpiled rice onto the market in an attempt to slow price increases due to shortfalls. But across the country food prices are rising, hitting the poor the hardest.
In Irian Jaya, the province adjoining drought-stricken Papua New Guinea, officials have been told to set up rice depots to prevent starvation among the remote tribal communities.
In Jakarta, several suburban areas have already run out of artesian water and local government officials say tap water in the city centre will last only until the end of next month.
In many areas low-level wells are contaminated and thousands of cases of diarrhoea among young children have been reported.
On Java, Indonesia's most densely populated island of some 120 million people, pockets of dry forest are burning and vast tracts of rice paddies lie cracked open, baked hard under the relentless sun. Villagers have been reported queuing for a whole day for two buckets of water, balanced on poles across their backs, and washing once a week to prevent wastage. Others are trading cattle and gold for tanks of water from private dealers.
At this time of the year planting should have begun. Java lies just south of the equator and normally heavy rain falls for at least six months a year, ensuring good rice harvests and sufficient stockpiles for the dry months.
In Pringluan, some Government water deliveries are getting through, but not enough, villagers say. Private suppliers are selling water for 20,000 rupiah ($10) a tank, a fortune in a poor, rural community where the daily wage is about $1.50. This area is not irrigated, so relies totally on rain.
"A few months ago we started to pray, and we will keep on praying, but nothing happens," said Istanto, a sun-beaten farmer.
The villagers gather around, hitching sarongs to squat by the side of the road, shaking their heads with concern.
"Everything we eat is more expensive now - at least 20 per cent more for rice, sugar, oil," say the women. "Many of the young people have left to look for work in the cities."
The last drought of this severity, they say, was in 1962. "So many of the people died, more than one hundred; we grated trees and boiled them, we ate rats," says an old man, laughing with embarrassment at the memory.
This year, they say, the Government must help them and they will not starve.
The hills surrounding the village are mounds of dry, red earth, virtually denuded by years of careless timber cutting, meaning much of the land no longer holds the precious rainwater.
The Dean of Geography at Gajah Mada University in the nearby city of Yogyakarta, Professor Sutikno, says the severity of the drought is a combination of the El Nino and land use.
"There is still water in reservoirs, but just giving people water is not enough," he said. "The Government has to educate people about the environment and water use."