Watermelon

Christmas na, you need watermelons.

RESILIENCE ARE LEGS. Nono Ramirez was 12 years old when his legs got burned in a freak accident. What happened was he was sent out to buy fuel for the family gasera or kerosene lamp. He took the kerosene home in an open container on his bicycle so some of the liquid got splashed all over his pants. When he got home, his mother happened to be holding an open flame, the lighted gasera. Nono took her hand to put in on his forehead (magmano) and that’s when disaster happened. Nono says he remembers hearing a “whoosh”, his legs catching fire, and then an explosion of flame as the gasera shattered. By the time his frantic mother and step-father were able to extinguish the flame, he suffered severe burns on the lower part of his body. Nono was never able to walk properly again. His burned muscles and tendons healed but contracted, and years later the bones on both legs developed an infection that required amputations above the knee. Despite all this, Nono was able to marry and have three children. He is 54 years old now, he is able to make a living by growing pumpkins and watermelons. He has developed a very positive attitude towards life. You can see now why this farmer of all the farmers we have dealt with, inspires us a lot. His sheer resilience has given his back his legs. He is a bit of a braggart. “Ako pinakamatamis magtanim ng pakwan dito”, he would say on more than one occasion. There was a time I almost wanted to say something like ‘Eh kasi, may height advanatage ka”, that he did not have to kneel like other farmers, that’s why he is better able to grow watermelons.

OUR PLEA, PLEASE DON’T SAY NONO. Rural Rising members to support this Group Buy to help watermelon farmers like Nono. How do you support this? Contribute P399 to send a truck to Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija and when it gets back, we shall give you 5 kilos.

#RuralRisingPh #GabaldonNuevaEcija #Watermelons

WATERMELON — P399 for 5 kilos