CH 2. LIFE BEFORE THE WAR

A FARMING PEOPLE

• Huts were often crowded. A husband, his wife and their unmarried children lived in one large hut.
• They planted rice & corn like most Hmong family's.
• Their huts were made with bamboo & wood.

CLEARING LAND

• For centuries, the Hmong had used the same methods to grow their crops. This practice how ever destroyed much of the forest in Laos and Vietnam

PLANTING RICE

• In May, the women and children weeded the fields.
• They pounded the rice to remove the husks.
• Each field was weeded twice more during the summer.

FARMING ON A MOUNTAINSIDE
-There was not enough land in the valleys to grow food for everyone.
- Some Hmong walked hours each way to get their fields in the mountains.

EVERYONE MUST WORK
- Everyone in the family had to work, from early in the morning to late at night. Men and women worked.

LITTLE TIME FOR SCHOOL

• Few Hmong children attended school, they were too busy working in the fields.
• The school was often in another village the students would have to walk hours to get there. They would have to leave super early in the morning just to walk hours before school started.

THE FRUITS OF WAR

• The Hmong had a simple life but the Vietnam war changed there way of life
• Some Hmong tried to stay out of all of the fighting. They just wanted to be safe.
• No matter what they chose their lives changed forever.
• Many Hmong's fled into the jungle, leaving their farms and crops behind.