"Decades ago, when I was just a young girl, I would walk along the channel with my father, watching as the water flowed effortlessly, bringing life to our paddy fields. Back then, we had 77 hectares of lush, fertile land, yielding bountiful harvests that fed our families and kept our community strong. The channel's well-maintained infrastructure ensured a consistent water flow, and our farmers could work the land with confidence, knowing they could rely on the water to sustain their crops and, in turn, their livelihoods. It was a time of abundance- our children grew up healthy and well-nourished, and I thought a sense of security in our village would last forever."

The Fading Lifeline

As the years passed, I watched helplessly as our once-vital irrigation channel withered away. The water that had sustained us for generations began to dry up, and the land, once so fertile and full of promise, started to crumble. The long drought caused by climate change reduced our water sources, leaving some areas of the paddy fields without adequate water. Additionally, the traditional burning method for agricultural purposes, consisting of burning the fields, destroyed nearby land, contributing to erosion and landslides near the irrigation channel. The infrastructure that had been our community's backbone fell into disrepair, and with it, our hopes began to fade. The fields that had once been lush and green turned barren, and our crops failed us. The yields we depended on dwindled by nearly 40%, is now leaving us with empty hands and broken spirits."

Families who had farmed this land for generations, who had built their lives and dreams on the soil of their ancestors, were forced to leave everything behind. The land that had fed us and given us pride and purpose was no longer worth holding onto. My heart ached as I saw our once self-reliant community sink into poverty, losing not just our livelihoods but our very identity.