The Rice Fields in Kampon Cham

By Mackenzie Moore

In the morning at 9 o’clock after breakfast he went to the rice fields. Most of the people in the village  wake up and are at the field at five in the morning. They work for six hours in the morning and if they live near the rice field after six hours of work they can stop home and eat lunch then go back to the fields for several more hours. If they live far away from the rice field they bring their lunch with them and eat it there. while working in the rice field all of us students were inexperienced. However, there were four locals there working who helped teach us what to do. One bundle of rice stalks  equals about five bowls of rice which is only one day of rice for a person. While cutting down the rice stalk you have to bend over which is straining on your back. After a while of working we were all tired and hot so we took a break. During the Khmer Rouge the people were told that they had to work without stopping and the people got nothing out of it. The villagers working in the fields finished a whole field in no more than three days. After we finished a bundle everyone was so proud of what they did.”I was really hot and tired now I have more of an appreciation for  the villagers who do this on a day to day basis.”

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