Swidden farmers first cut down the brush and trees on their field, then let the vegetation dry, and then burn it to clear the soil and convert the wood into ash, which acts as fertilizer. Here some men and children burn dried vegetation for a garden.
Sweet manioc (also called cassava; Manihot utilissima) is a plant originally from South America that produces large edible tubers. It grows abundantly even in poor soil and therefore is often included in the swiddens of Malayan Aboriginal farmers. Here a woman digs shallow holes, while two youngsters cut foot-long sections of manioc stems, which they will place at an angle in the holes and partially cover with earth. New plants will sprout from the stem cuttings and produce edible tubers in as little as six months.
Children also learn to cook at an early age. Here a group of children have built a fire and are roasting some frogs. Because food is normally shared, each child will probably get a tiny bite.
Families are encouraged to cook for their ill members in the designated cooking area. Daily rations are supplied but they often go to the nearby jungle and river to hunt and fish.
Three children at school at the hospital. Healthy children often accompanied their parents to the hospital when they were sick. Schooling was not provided by the Malaysian Ministry of Education. Volunteers did what they could with the revolving group of children of different ages and abilities.
Batek are clever at reusing such scarce and valuable materials as iron. Here a woman is making a chisel-shaped digging stick blade from a broken piece of a bushknife blade. She has inserted the blade in a wooden handle, heated it in a fire, and is now pounding the end to thin it, using a ball-peen hammer and an ax butt for an anvil. She will later sharpen the newly-formed cutting edge with a file.
