Many things in our community have changed over the years, but other things remain the same. Planting rice is something we have tried to do every year, and even though our fields do not produce a lot of rice, we like to plant it anyway as a community project… and as a reminder of who we are.
The children know the process well and are able to do it with very little supervision from the adults.
The work is not pleasant… the knives for cutting the stalks are sharp and small cuts to fingers and legs are common…and the bundles of cut rice are very itchy when carrying or thrashing them,
but the shared discomforts are minor compared to the satisfaction they get from working together for the good of our community…
and after three days of cutting, carrying, and thrashing the rice… the job was finished for another year.
Thanks for stopping in!
The Watopotians