Food from the Land

Sopee lives in O’Chra Village.

The family grows almost all of their own food.

From January to March they clear land for planting.

Then they plant the crops.

Then they weed the ground to help the crops to grow.

After school Sopee and her mother walk down to their field to work.

They are growing cassava which tastes a bit like potato.

They also grow things like eggplant, beans, sweet potato, cucumber and pineapple.

It’s very hot so they stop for a break in a special shelter built to provide shade.

Luckily they don’t have to walk home today!

Sopee likes jackfruit which tastes like banana and pineapple combined.

A very important crop is rice.

The ground is prepared with a hand tractor.

Then the rice seed is sown.

After planting, the people have a special ceremony to ask for a blessing on the harvest.

Sopee and her family believe that the spirits of their ancestors help them.

This is a shrine with offerings for their ancestors.

Sopee and her family use one of their fields for about three years and then they let it lie unused.

Can you guess why?

Sopee and her family also get many things they need from the forest.

This includes wood for cooking, resin for candles, mushrooms, medicines

and rattan for weaving.

The people in Sopee’s village know that it is important to look after the forest.

They collect the fruit but don’t cut down the trees.

Any food left over goes to the family pig.

What do you think happens to the pigs?

There is a small shop in the village but people don’t use it very much.

Compare how Sopee gets her food to how you get your food.

Photo credits: Crispin Anderlini and Murray Shearer (Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand)