Chipping granite in Africa—a tough way to make a living
Poor John and I signed up for a day-long tour of some interesting sites near Korhogo in the Ivory Coast. I’ve already shown you the bead-making village, but the most heartbreaking stop was at an enormous granite quarry.
According to our guide, the quarry has been going for about 40 years and most of the hard labour is done by women. A couple of fellows (we saw one) use huge sledge hammers to knock off huge chunks of granite, but the women break these into ever smaller pieces.
Granite in all sizes
Granite chipping—a family affair
It’s sobering to realise that some of these women were born in this quarry and into this ‘career’. In turn, they have had children in this quarry and carry them on their backs as they work.
The granite—most of it is grey although some is pinkish—is used in construction and road works.
It was blisteringly hot when we were there, mostly without much shade. And as I sit here typing this—two countries further on—I can’t get them out of my mind. Who said slave labour does’t exist?
P.S. Some pic don’t have captions. You can see what’s happening.
Women dumping the granite they’ve chipped. See the baby on the back (right)
Using a sledge hammer to knock off big block of granite
Where to next? 
Very rough. I can see why that lingered in your mind, and in such a heartbreaking way.
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A sight I will never forget.
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An exrremely tough life. With probably no chance of escape from being born there. 😢
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I hope education can bring a chance for escape.
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Toll Bei akuna matata, alles erdenklich gut, schöne zeit !!!!!!
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Thanks.
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Thanks to you tooooo>(*L*)
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Such a hard life.
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A very hard life.
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Yes, I understand why this is sticking with you. We are so privileged.
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We are very, very privileged.
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It is a hard life. It would be interesting to know more – husbands? husband’s work? children’s education if any? Perhaps the answers would be even more disconcerting.
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Yes, I wish I knew more. That said, there does seem to be a commitment to education for children.
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Wow, that looks like very tough labour.
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Back breaking labour.
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The photos, so accurate, give us an idea of the trafficking of highly developed people in these places. The exploitation of women are patented in those heartbreaking images. A bad drink that I have to witness surely.
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Life is hard for many people in West Africa—women and men.
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The trouble with trying to mechanise jobs like this in Africa is that the heavy machinery needs to be maintained and they don’t have the skilled engineers. I have seen many huge diggers and other equipment lying rusting in Nigeria. As soon as they break down they are abandoned. Labour is cheap and in plentiful supply.
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Oh Dorothy, you have made excellent points. Thank you.
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Oh Peggy! How desperately sad these women’s lives are. To be born into a quarry, and be carried as the child in one photo is, only to grow and have that as your life. No wonder so many people throughout the world feel helpless and hopeless.
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Yes, so sad. The extraordinary thing is that they still could give us a smile.
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I saw similar heart breaking jobs being done in Bali. Women trudging up and down steep hills carrying six bricks on their heads, all day long for a building site. And metres away, tourist bargaining to get an even bigger discount on a bangle or set of earrings.
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Great point Gerard. Bargaining is part of the shopping experience, but not cheating a person out of a livelihood.
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Heart breaking.
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Yes indeed.
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This reminds me of the Middle Ages in England. Whole generations born into labour, as in the construction of cathedrals and castles. Living and working, and dying, on a building site.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Thanks Pete. It does seem that way.
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Stone is tough stuff. What is the difference between this work and Michaelangelo? Was he a slave? Those people are doing a difficult job, who’s to say they don’t love it? Not for us to say. There is a difference between slavery and working through a difficult, poorly paying job.
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Doubt that these women feel they are creating art.
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That is not the point. Your attitude toward the work was condenscending and inappropriate.
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That was certainly was not my intention. My comments reflected the guide’s description of the work and its history.
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I used to cut granite in a quarry, often with hand tools and it was the most grueling experience in my life. Granite dust is also very bad for your health, often leading to death by silicosis.
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Oh my, you certainly understand how these women might feel.
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Horrific
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and heartbreaking.
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I noticed right from your first picture there were only women at the quarry. It is heart breaking to see the women conditions. I might not want to know where their men were..
Good post, Peggy!
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Thanks. There were some men working, but not many.
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I was just wondering, do they have matriarchal traditions over there?
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I think some of the West African cultures have matriarchal traditions, but not sure to what extent.
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Oh Peggy,what an awful, great post. Absolutely heart breaking to witness, even second hand. I’m sure those images will be with you forever. It’s a great reminder to anyone fortunate enough to be born in the western, over privileged world – to be grateful!
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It is an excellent reminder. We have so much to be grateful for.
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Life is so hard in much of the world. We should be so very grateful for the luxuries we think we’re entitled to and realize it all comes on the back of someone sweating in the sun, doing hard labor. Truly images to think about, Peggy. No wonder they’re still on your mind two countries over. Africa is more than safaris and waterfalls.
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Yes, much more than safaris and waterfalls.
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Chipping Granite in Africa surely is a very difficult heart breaking task, as mentioned and the photos show. However, there are much worse lifestyles for making a living (in order to survive) in Africa, like mining; https://www.brilliantearth.com/conflict-diamond-child-labor/
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Excellent point Sy. Child labour is an issue in much of Africa.
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Heart breaking 😦
Alison
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It sure is.
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Yes, and then I hear whining when the power goes out or the doctor cancels your apt. sigh
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Amazing how people can get upset over such trivial things.
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Yes, dispiriting
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Oh, my. What is there to say, or at least what someone hadn’t already said? Counting my blessings.
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We all need to count our blessings.
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A bittersweet thing to be grateful for when you need a job but it’s like this 😦
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Yes, bittersweet indeed.
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Makes me wonder if it was an overseas corporation that owned the granite works, Peggy.
My observation in Liberia, BTW, was that the women often worked harder than the men. –Curt
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Women worker harder than the men in much of West Africa.
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I’d watch the men sit around and drink cain-juice while the women loaded their babies on to their backs, grabbed their machetes, and marched off to harvest the country rice.
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And the kids learn to use machetes when they are about two years old.
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Heartbreaking, indeed. And I’m certain these women are hardly paid–slave wages. 😦
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Mainly I hope they can provide for their families.
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Yes. xxxx
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One can’t help but speculate at the depth of human potential being wasted.
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Excellent point.
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Jesus…it is too painful to look at, let alone be down there. i am saddened and do not at all “like.” what a world. continue…
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Very hard to visit. I treat ‘likes’ on posts of this kind as a way of saying ‘I stopped by’.
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