. >> about a 1,000 kilometers further north in the village of abraha atsbeha, another near miraculous phenomenon is occurring. farmers are finding water at the bottom of their wells, despite the poor rains this year. the famine of 1984 struck the people of this valley very hard. many migrated, many died. now the people are returning. the village chairman, gabre giday, remembers well how life used to be. >> [speaking in foreign language] ten years ago i'd say, even five years ago, i'll tell you what the situation was: it was absolutely terrible. the sun, the drought, the wind, it was all dry like the desert. there was a refugee program for our village, so we had a choice, leave the valley or do something. >> with government support, they applied the same principles as the chinese: setting land aside for natural vegetation to return. in the ravines, they built small dams which are now fed by underground springs. and like professor legesse's stream, rain that fell weeks ago now slowly seeps through the subsoil, replenishing the supply of water. >> [speaking in foreign language] the erode