(Japanese) That year, we finished the coffee harvesting and we then moved to the Mombuca colony. I joined this colony, which was right next to a malaria-infested river, and harvested sugarcanes.
*I: How many years did you spend there? Well, I joined during the rainy season, but it soon became dry season. So I built a house and dug a well, but when the rainy season came back, everything became flooded. So I moved up the hill and re-built the house, dug a new well, and settled down there… But then everyone got infected with malaria, and I eventually decided to work back at the farmland colony.
I used to leave early in the morning, on a train that left at 6 o’clock, and would commute to the colony for an hour or so. There, I was planting things and pulling weeds. But one day I suffered a severe injury, and I literally had to drag my legs in order to get to and from work. When I got home, everyone was asleep. They had a fever and were sleeping, so as soon as I got home, I would cook dinner for them to eat, and then I would make my lunch for the following day, and be ready to leave for the station by 6AM again. This was my life for a while.
* “I” indicates an interviewer.
Date:
Location: Brazil
Contributed by: Caminho da memória - 遥かなるみちのり. São Paulo, Brazil: Comissão de Elaboração da História dos 80 Anos de Imigração Japonesa no Brasil, 1998. VHS.
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