Today was tiring but worth it. I spent the whole day at our community palm oil mill helping out. From morning to evening it was heat, smoke, and plenty of that deep red oil. We got started early. The first task was to shift the boiled palm fruits. After hours of boiling, the fruits were soft and ready to be processed.
In the first few pictures you’ll see me pouring the hot fruits from a big perforated pot into a basin placed inside a wheelbarrow. The steam was so much. The fruits were bright orange and red. It was hot, but we had to move carefully so nothing wasted.
After that we wheeled them over to the pressing area. This is how we do it here in the village, no big factory machines, just manual work and teamwork.
The boiled fruits were loaded into the press to extract the oil.
Picture 3 shows me filling a yellow jerrycan with fresh palm oil using an orange funnel. The oil was thick, hot, and very red. There was also a big basin on the floor catching oil as it dripped from the press.
In picture 4 I was scooping oil from the basin into the container. You can see the old press machine beside me, stained yellow from years of use.
The whole place smelled like fresh palm oil. That smell always takes me back to home-cooked meals. Processing palm oil is real labor. It needs fire, water, strength, and time. But it’s also how many families here earn a living. By evening I was exhausted and my clothes smelled like smoke, but I felt good. We filled several Jerry cans today.
