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Omar Alai’s workday

"Insects, sheep, leaves, roots, and bark! That's what this rug is made of," says Omar as he sits at the loom. Omar remembers visiting the dye house. Here, he had watched the wool being dyed. And the...

May I help you?

Philippines A dugout canoe called a banca is used as a ferryboat. It takes passengers across a river in the Philippines. "iEn que puedo servirle?" the guard asked. "May maitutulong ba ako?" the...

To market, to market

"Burro! Please move," begged Maria. Burro, the family's stubborn donkey, did not want to carry Maria and her two large sacks to market. But a light touch of the whip did the trick. Burro began to...

We make the whole thing

Millions of look-alike socks and shoes, pots and pans, toys and toothbrushes tumble out of machines. But before there were machines, people made things by hand. And there are still people who make...

Piece by piece

> Japanese, working on an assembly line, put television sets together > piece by piece. "We make small things in a big way." That's what Swiss factory workers say. Watches are one of the small...

Riches in the sea

When Per meets a neighbor, he usually says, "Godt fiske!" instead of "Good day!" Godtfiske means "good fishing" in Norwegian. And a good catch means a good day for all Norwegian fishermen. For...

The good earth

Kazino had set out early that morning. He had driven the cattle for an hour before finding enough grass for them to feed on. Now he brushed away the flies around his eyes and squinted at the sun. It...

The Ways We Work

The sun is shining on our backs. In town, we shall be paid fish for our barley. That was a song of Egyptian farmers, more than 3,000 years ago. Wall paintings in ancient tombs show these farmers at...