The village of Karatas lies in the Ili Valley in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Here, people derive their main income from growing fruit. For years, however, the scarcity of water held back progress. In 2022, a government-funded project to build a reservoir promised relief, only for it to start leaking almost as soon as it opened. In 2024, a team from Suzhou, sent as part of the Jiangsu Pairing Assistance Program, funded the reservoir's repair. Today, the surging clear water does more than irrigate the fruit trees; it has restored the villagers' faith in a prosperous future.