Itinerant Manggarai field workers take the first step in preparing a field for planting rice on the island of Flores in eastern Indonesia. They will pull the old rice plants and bury them in the mud where the plants will help fertilize the soil. Two weeks later, the field will be ready for planting a fresh crop of rice.
The Manggarai live in the flattest area on the island of Flores. Because no mountains or deep valleys are found there like the rest of the island, the Manggarai produce most of the island’s wet-field rice. With a population of nearly 600,000, the Manggarai are the largest unreached people group (UPG) in eastern Indonesia. IMB Photo
