Making an embankment: ယာ ကန္သင္း တစ္ခု တည္ေဆာက္ၿခင္း

"More exactly, it is in an arid zone of our country. Summers are the hottest and rainfalls are the lowest in my village during the whole year around. Farmers in our area work all year around: winter, summer and rainy season. I did so too till I finally left my village for higher education. I would like to share one of my family activities on the farm during my farmer days in my village. Actually that instant of time I am going to share with you is my most missing part of life whenever I experience heavy rain in whatever place I am and however far I am from my native village. This morning rain here urged me to write this post to share my family farm life with you all."

There is a frequent rain here during these days. Actually I have not explored how many seasons they have here. But for this time of the year there is a random visit of rain here mostly during the night and in the early morning.

This morning the rain said its early-morning hello to us here again. It is quite a heavy rain. I felt the coldness by the rain when I wrapped up myself in my blanket. I could hear the sound of rainwater dropping on the roofs and ground. But this sound here is not so beautiful unlike the sound I had heard on my cottage house when I was in my village with my family. My native village is in the up country of Myanmar. More exactly, it is in an arid zone of our country. Summers are the hottest and rainfalls are the lowest in my village during the whole year around. Farmers in our area work all year around: winter, summer and rainy season. I did so too till I finally left my village for higher education. I would like to share one of my family activities on the farm during my farmer days in my village. Actually that instant of time I am going to share with you is my most missing part of life whenever I experience heavy rain in whatever place I am and however far I am from my native village. This morning rain here urged me to write this post to share my family farm life with you all.

When I am thinking to share that part of my life which I called as my farmer days, I have noticed that I should point out how rainwater is so important for the farmers in arid zone to get a successful cropping and harvesting. Since we have the lowest rainfall in our village, farmers always long for and value the rare heavy rain in our Anyar Myay ( the up country land). Some years we don't have any rainfall the whole year around. Some years, there are two or three times visit of rain, which are not enough to get a successful plantation and harvest. For the lower part of our village, we can still get some good harvesting seasons by the help of the River Irrawaddy sweeping its water to our fields and leaving enough layer of good-fertilizing soil on our fields and enough water content or moisture content in the soil to some depth of soil or ground, which can guarantee a successful harvest time for us. But the River Irrawaddy can never reach to the upper part of our village. Moreover during my farmer days, there was no technology yet to make effective use of underground water. Therefore the rainwater become the only source we have to rely on for getting a good seeding and planting of crops on our upper farms.

Therefore even one time heavy rain in our land is very important for us. No farmer will not let this water wasted. All have to capture the biggest amount of rainwater in their farm during this scarce coming of rain fall. Some years, when we have plantation ready to give its buds and flowers which will support us the good harvest time, no rain falls. As a result, there are no successful budding and flowering. Both we farmers and our friends plants are waiting for the rain to come and refresh us. If finally the rain come, all of the farmers from our village have to run to their farms with farm equipment on their shoulders to capture a stream of rainwater in their fields. That does not exclude me and my family. I want to recall my memories of that time with my two sisters. When there was a heavy rainfall after the continuous lack of rain, we ran to our fields to collect rainwater in our field.

Our field is located near the bottom of a small mountain ranges. So whenever there is a heavy rain, a stream of rainwater collected from each mountain passes through our farm. When we got to our farm, the stream had not reached to our farm. So we had enough time to prepare a bank of earth to intermit the flow when it came. The rain became heavier and heavier. We got so cold while we were trying to make a good embankment. We dug up the earth and put it on the embankment to make it stronger and stronger. As soon as we thought our embankment was strong and high enough to stop the flow of mountain water, the stream got at our farm. We excitingly waited for the stream to get at our embankment on a perpendicular line on our farm. Finally it arrived at our embankment. But since the flow encountered intermittence, the mountain water kept on flowing all around our farm sinking deeply to the underground. But the rain got even heavier to a greater degree. The stream of water became stronger and its speed became uncontrollable. This was demanding me and my two sisters to mend more earth to the embankment. So we dug more earth and mended the embankment. But when the water was so strong, we lost our control. Water level became higher than the height of embankment. Some leaked through the embankment. Some flowed over it. Finally we totally lost our control. Stronger stream of mountain water broke down our embankment finally at all places. But at least we had let the water be sipped in the deeper soil, which can guarantee us a good harvest time.

Plants immediately gave out their buds and flowers because of rain and rainwater. Forest on the mountain ranges became greener. Arid zone was totally changed into a green land for a very short part of the season. How beautiful this part of my life. I really did not notice at that time I did enjoy my family life and my farmer days fully to make an embankment that would strengthen the kinship between me and my sisters. But I hope and I will always try to make this embankment of our kinship never be broken down by the streams of life called stresses, strains, and Law-ka-Dan (sufferings from life).

Whenever it rains hard again, wherever I am, I want to get back to my village to make an embankment for our family farm to get a successful harvest of our new generations: my children and my two sisters' children.