Their fields produce too. More food is available, some surpluses exist and are sold on the local market. These payments go toward the purchase of new lands for new groups. I visited these meetings and was extremely impressed by the openness, the seriousness of the purpose and the love among members. Virtually no one in this remote rural area goes to school.
People are suspicious of schools.
There are no jobs to be had through schooling. What can literacy bring but trouble, unfulfilled expectations, new dangers. But the brothers and sisters know that without education life cannot progress beyond the miserable, beyond bare survival. Knowledge must challenge harmful traditional practices, and there are many in farming, health care, the spiritual life and social relations. I spent many hours of my afternoons and evenings wandering the dusty dirt trails to nearby villages.