Once upon a time I owned a shirt (or maybe two) that I loved with all of the National FFA Organization Agriculture passion in side of me. And people, at the time, that was a lot! The shirt was one of my all time favorite graphic fitted tees, because what high school kid in the early 2000’s did not like a good graphic tee?!

The shirt was an FFA graphic black tee with lipstick writing saying,  “women make agriculture look good.” I have searched high and low for a picture of the shirt and have come up short. But, trust me, it was a dandy one! 😉

Today, I remembered this shirt as I watched several women getting after it on the Abaana’s Hope farm. It is the first harvest of the year in Northern Uganda and there is a lot of work to be done the old school way by manual labor without a tractor.

Yesterday, I watched as women walked several 100 yards with large bags full of bean stalks balanced on their heads.

Today I watched those same women spread the bean stalks out on a large tarp and begin hulling them by literally beating them with sticks for hours.

It dawned on me, these women embody exactly what that shirt said, “women make agriculture look good.” These Acholi women are tough as nails and work extremely hard in the fields everyday. Let us be honest, it is no surprise to see men doing manual labor in the fields until the day’s end. But, to see beautiful women holding their own doing manual farm labor, now that is something incredible. These Acholi women do indeed make agriculture look good as they work in the sweltering sun in their skirts and head wraps. Just see for yourself. It is true, Acholi women make agriculture look good!