In April 2018 I joined a local branch of the NGO HEPA (Human Ecology Practice Area) on their visit to the Hmong tribe in a small village Ban Long Lao Mai, not far away from Luang Prabang in the north of Laos. The HEPA currently runs a number of projects in Laos and Vietnam related to organic agriculture and permaculture.
It’s interesting and, at the same time, ironic that something that used to be the center of the traditional lifestyle of many tribes across the world (and that modern societies forgot and are now ”discovering” again) is reaching tribes as a ”new” thing that has to be learnt – the organic agriculture. Just like the modern world, ethnic minorities that live in rural areas such as the Hmong tribe have eventually lost some of the ancient knowledge about organic agriculture and protecting the environment. It is possible that this process has started off as a consequence of the external influences that up until recently have been considered as a modern progress.
For example, the excessive use of pesticides and other harmful products, that are imported from China for a very cheap price, is present in the Hmong village just as in the rest of Laos and the southeast Asia. The tribes are not informed well enough about their use or danger they pose, which has unfortunately led to the land and water contamination. Actually, some of the diseases that the Hmong tribe is fighting right now are closely related to drinking the water from the contaminated creeks nearby. Since they are too isolated in the mountains, they cannot access drinking water in any other way.
The HEPA’s aim is to educate (or perhaps to remind?) the tribes of the traditional ways of cultivating fruits and vegetables as well as working the land without using the pesticides and artificial fertilizers. During our visit to the tribe, we held workshops about making biological manure and compost (from banana trunk). Many villagers came and we were particularly happy to see that they brought notebooks with them and carefully wrote down all the procedures, ingredients and instructions.
In this short documentary (my first one) you will see one of the most ancient practices of the Hmong tribe and learn more about the challenges they face today.
