In ancient times, transportation was difficult and daunting. Carrying heavy loads from one place to another was strenuous and challenging. But people of Fuvahmulah managed to carry out this complex task with the then available resources and means.
Fuvahmulah is an island with thick vegetation – coconut trees, Alexandrian Laurel (funa) and Syzygium (dhambo). These trees were very useful for building houses and fishing vessels. The island had enough resources for household or commercial use. But the challenge is that the wood or the timber of these trees are huge and heavy. Transporting these heavy timbers required enormous work and time. To find a solution to this complex task, they dragged the timber on the house reef of the island during high tide.
This work was extremely difficult and dangerous as waves break on the reef continuously around the island. First the timbers are transported to the beach with a help of a wagon (bondo gaadiyaa), a two-wheel vehicle used to transport heavy commodities. Then they put the timbers onto the reef front during high tide. The water depth would be around three to four feet, varying with the continuous flow of waves and currents. They push, drag and sometimes pull with ropes attached to the wood to carry it from place to place. They move these heavy timbers along the reef front from one ward to the other. It takes hours and hours to reach the destination. Normally the timbers weigh around 100 to 200 kg per piece.
According to some elderly people, some fishermen also indulge in this work after returning from fishing without a fish catch. The fishermen had enough time to carry out this work when fish was scarce or if they had no fish catch.
