Si Hui's Reflections - The Farmers' Hardship
So many things happened during our 14-day trip. But I would only just dive straight into one topic for my reflection.....THE FARMERS. Yes, this might sound cliche, but they were the people that left me with the deepest impression.
The FLITCH Project at Gia Bac Village was an eye-opener for me. I was struck by the lack of manpower that was needed to help out the beneficiaries under this project. The farmland was very large in one of the project sites and progress was slow as we could only help out in the morning. Despite sweating it out under the scorching sun, all we had accomplished were pulling out weeds that were growing around some of the crops, and clearing some small plots of land. With so much weeding left undone, I felt guilty towards the owner and her family. Having to look after her young children, I wondered how she could cope with her farmland alone. Though outsiders might say we are inexperienced, I could not help thinking that we could have done much more to help them.
The farmers toiled all year round, harbouring the hope of having a abundant harvest. There were so many obstacles they had to face - - elements of the weather, plant diseases, pests and cashflow problems. Yet, they continued to perservere on for their crops were their main source of income. (FYI: some crops could be harvested only once per year while others might take years. And it was not guaranteed that the harvest could be sold at a good price.)
Like the Chinese Poet Li Shen had written 锄禾日当午， 汗滴禾下土。 谁知盘中餐，粒粒皆辛苦, which means: Farmers put in so much effort in growing their crops, each grain is a harvest of their round-the-year efforts. Once you have seen the farmers live in action, I believe that you will agree with me that wasting food and resources is equivalent to dubbing the farmers' efforts as worthless. So let us make their efforts worthwhile!
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