More and more workers arrived, streaming out of the nearby barrios, until their number reached up to forty men. They came not out of sheer patriotism—though that sentiment might have flickered in some hearts—nor did they do it for money. Had that been the case, then with all the building and preparation we'd done just this week alone, my coffers would've been emptied dry.
Workers were paid in rice. And for some, that was handsome pay enough. Although rice was abundantly grown in the province, not everyone could afford it. The poor often contented themselves with root crops—cassava, sweet potatoes, taro—and only savored rice during rare celebrations. A few sacks of rice could mean a week of full bellies for a whole family.
