A visitor to a quarry in Uganda notes a versatile type of hammer, hand-made from old mechanical parts, used by workers engaged in a truly gruelling job.
The “hammers” are an ingenious marriage of a stick and an engine gear. The one on the right has been worn down. Just think of how many swings it takes to wear down an engine gear by slamming it against stone. It’s a repetitive, depressing way to earn a meal.
Project Diaspora Visits the Women of Kireka [via Afrigadget]
Totally ingenious. It looks like a transmission gear to me. The shape of the gear would do a great job of breaking apart stone. What are they doing with the stone that it all needs to be broken up?
It’s a depressing and grinding job to be sure, and with my western eyes all I could think is how they needed mechanization. But then I realized that would mean 1/10th the number of people employed – or fewer – and that they would have demolished that hill long ago with machinery. So it’s not exactly all good.
I have all sorts of hammers at home: Crescent hammers, butter knife hammers, shoe hammers. Almost anything that’s harder than what you plan to hit can be a hammer. That’s the glory of hammers!
When you visit the quarry, it’s definitely a realization that the quarry serves a major purpose in the community. Mechanization would destroy any future hope of a meager income for hundreds that work there. Perhaps the key is to help them get a leg up from the quarry and on to something better.
The rocks are used in construction and feed Kampala’s bustling for new buildings and roads. The quarry is the lowest part of the food chain for that growth.
We are hoping to help a few of the women and their children that work there, learn a new skill. More on that, here:http://projectdiaspora.org/
Well, it’s a rock quarry. Physical labor isn’t depressing unless you’re a pasty weakling who can’t lift a hammer to save his life.
mmph
http://projectdiaspora.org/