Fruits of Their Labor

Pantauli, Supar and Tugimin are just a few among the many farmers who have experienced the ups and downs of cultivating oil palm. Now, they are reaping the benefits. Their past is filled with joy and laughter.

Kompas/Ferganata Indra Riatmoko

Pintauli Manurung (left) and her son Esron Simbolon clear shed palm leaves at their oil palm plantation on Monday (12/3) in Nagari Pengkolan, Bosar Maligas district, Simalungun, North Sumatra.

Esron Simbolon, 50, looked down at his father’s tombstone in the oil palm plantation near their house. He recalled the hard times his parents went through when they planted oil palms around 1984. Times were tough then, and they ate whatever they could find.

However, Esron’s parents refused to give up. They worked hard on their plantation to ensure that their children could go to school and enjoy a better life. It was this that motivated Esron’s parents to leave home early in the morning to work on the plantation and return late at night.