The people of Namdee village in Namtha district don\u2019t need money when it comes to harvest time because, unlike most other places in Laos, they don\u2019t have to pay for hired labour.\u00a0At a large rice farm surrounded by green hills, where the fields are owned by many Namdee villagers, I saw at least 20 people harvesting rice and listening to music played on a radio. The scene revived long-buried memories from years ago of times when people didn\u2019t have to spend money on hired labour.\u00a0I fell in with the group and spent about two hours talking to them and helping them to cut the rice. They said they never had to pay their friends and neighbours to harvest the rice because they all banded together to bring in each farmer\u2019s rice crop on individual plots of land.\u00a0When the rice is ready to harvest, the farm owner just tells everyone in the village and then one member of each family comes to help.\u00a0It takes only one or two days to finish cutting the rice as there are many people involved and they all set to work with scythes to get the job done as quickly as possible.\u00a0<\/p>\n
During the harvesting, they always carry on a conversation which makes the work fun and sometimes they sing when the radio plays their favourite song.\u00a0Listening to music on the radio while working is an old tradition on Lao farms and sometimes people call the radio DJ to request a particular song.
\nWork hours are fairly precisely set each morning and afternoon. The general rule is that work begins in the morning at 7:30 am and ends at 11:30 am, then resumes at around 2 pm and continues until 5 pm.\u00a0As everyone has to toil in the hot sun, they sometimes need a break for a drink. But the rice farm in Namdee village doesn\u2019t have any big trees to provide shade and the huts are quite far away, so people just take a break for five minutes or so.\u00a0The owner of the farm everyone is working on must provide lunch and dinner for those who are helping. Usually, they cook some fish that has been caught on the farm or sometimes make a hearty chicken soup.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s unusual to see this kind of collective farm work in Laos these days, and most farmers have to pay people to harvest their crops.\u00a0The going rate for a hired labourer is 70,000 kip a day. One farmer in Namdee village said they sometimes have to pay for extra help if the crop is very big and they want to get the rice cut quickly, but they would never hire workers from their village.\u00a0Namdee is in a rural area of Namtha district, six kilometres from the main town. The people here are Lao Huay (Lanten) and still maintain their traditional way of life. Among other interesting activities, this is a good place to observe the making of paper from bamboo bark.\u00a0Behind the village is the entrance to the Nam Dee waterfall. This area has several places worth visiting, including a small handicraft shop managed by the villagers.\u00a0The village runs home-stays, enabling visitors to experience the Lanten lifestyle, eat the local food, learn how to make paper from bamboo, and participate in the day-to-day work of their host family.\u00a0The villagers not only help each other at harvest time and to plant rice; they also help each other with house building.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One of the reasons why this cooperative lifestyle persists is because the village is poor, but it\u2019s heartwarming to see the community spirit that exists here. The people are truly kind and helpful to each other, which is different from so many other places today.<\/p>\n