Working Hard at Hard Work

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Most Zambians survive however they can. Many scrape out a living with some sort of “business.” This often involves staking out some piece of property that no one else seems to have claimed—to grow something or produce something resourceful on or from the land. Over the last month or two a Zambian I met named Emmanuel (meaning “God with us”) has done just that. He makes bricks out of dirt from anthills. He chose a large unclaimed anthill just outside the gate that surrounds the campus where I live.


Emmanuel labors thirteen hours a day, from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m., seven days a week. Each day he makes three hundred bricks. Anthill soil is supposed to be the best for making strong, durable bricks because it is so fine. Emmanuel begins making a brick by first coating the inside of a rectangular metal box with some black oil, so that he’ll be able to remove the brick later. Then he shovels a heap of anthill dirt into the box. Next, he packs the dirt hard by pounding it with his shovelhead; he repeats the process piles more on and smacks it again. Finally, he activates a lever to release the brick from the box.
He ascends from the dirt pit to stage the bricks for drying. He covers his newly formed bricks with hay and lets them bake in the sun for three days. I forgot to ask Emmanuel what he charges for each brick. It can’t be much because the people who will buy them can’t afford to pay very much. Fortunately for Emmanuel he’s got almost no costs, though I don’t know how he markets his bricks.

There's not an ounce of fat on Emmanuel. For lunch he eats nshima, the porridge-like corn meal staple of most Zambians. He has no vegetable or meat to accompany this virtually nutritionless lump. Hooray for Emmanuel for taking the initiative to eke out an honest though very tough living.