beautiful rice fields

Lets take a step back from the macro-view of the Philippines. Lets see how the other half lives.

I journeyed out of town over the weekend to visit the ground breaking ceremony in a new hospital wing of one of our customers. It was a long road trip using back roads passing through old farm lands.

driving through those narrow roads, one can not but help imagine the quiet life under a mango tree--- well to be honest i was thinking of what it would be like to have satellite internet access under that mango tree. wouldn't that be something? just a quiet moment amidst the backdrop of nature.

it is such a beautiful country--- you could see the rolling hills and mighty mountains and the swaying of coconut and mango trees while people were planting rice. beautiful. simply beautiful.

then we start to think (and i don't mean to be a downer) but the reality is that these farm lands are decades behind their Asian counter parts. rice we're being dried on empty roads and harvesting and planting rice--- using technology decades old. is it any wonder that there's a problem with rice production in the country? more heartaches eh?

what wouldn't we give to have the expertise and the resources to take such opportunities and make rice production much better and at the same time profit from it.