This has nothing to do with the clich? ?What a man can do, a woman can do better?. It is a tale of extreme poverty which has forced these women, most of whom are faced with the difficult task of providing for their families, into the tough business of manual stone crushing around Federal Capital Territory.
AUGUSTINE AMINU was in Suleja, Niger state to chronicles how they risk their health daily, to support their families . . .
Mama Issac, as she is fondly called by neighbours, began her day as early as 5a.m with a prayer. After that, she helped her two children: seven-year-old Isaac and five-year-old Emma, both pupils of the government-owned Poulosa Primary School, Suleja, Niger State, prepare for school.
She could only afford pap, without akara, for the family?s breakfast. Her children drank it happily. Once it is 7:30am, the children leave for school and with her baby strapped to her back, she heads straight to the quarry where she crush stones for her livelihood.
For lunch, she stowed away a plate of pap, a sachet of Paracetamol and a jar of Aboniki balm. She heads straight to the base of the gigantic rock, which used to be occupied and operated by a quarry company, Poulosa Nigeria Ltd.
Located in Rafin sanyi area of Suleja local government area of Niger State, the quarry site is a source of livelihood for scores of women who have had unpleasant spells in extreme poverty.
Mama Isaac exchanged pleasantries with the other women, spread her wrapper on the ground and helped her toddler sit on it. All done, she took to her daily task: crushing rocks.
At noon, she took a break. Her children would be back from school by 12.30 and they would expect lunch. Unfortunately, Mama Isaac had not made any sale for the day, so she offered the children N50 to get themselves garri which they consumed quickly.
She smiled at the reporter, with exhausted eyes. ?They are hungry, but I am doing my best to train them in the way I can. I know they will be great leaders tomorrow, but how am I going to pay rent and eat if I just sit at home?? She knitted her sweaty brows in concentration as she performed her laborious job.
Like many other impoverished women, she was introduced to the ?job? by a ?good friend?, as she put it. Without protective attire or gear, Mama Isaac would go into the abandoned quarry, as she hammered rocks with a hammer made of iron bar: her only tool. Each day, she ventured into the rocky terrain and hoped that the crushed rock would be purchased by builders, since her family depended on her ability to break large rocks into gravel to survive. For most of the day, she haggled with builders and tried to convince them to buy a wheelbarrow of crushed rock for N400. When purchased, the gravel is then used to make concrete slabs, and foundations for homes and roads.
?When my husband died, I had no source of income to support my two children or pay rent. My good friend saw my problem and advised me to join them. I had no choice but to join my friends in crushing stones.?
She could not find a job and had no capital to start a better business when her husband, who worked as a guard, passed away.
?When I started this work, I thought I could not do it for long, because of the difficulty in it. But some of the women I met doing the job encouraged me to go ahead. First, I had serious pains in my joint, but the women recommended some drugs and herbs for me. I was relieved after taking them.
?People are now building their own houses here and it means we have to work extra hard to meet their demand.?
When business was good, she made between N8, 000 and N10, 000, but on normal day sells made between N3, 000 and N5, 000. Unfortunately, half the money would go into buying drugs for herself.
?When I started, I used to drink panadol almost every day. Sometime ago I fell seriously ill and was rushed to the hospital, so I was advised by the doctor to take proper medication and these drugs cost a lot of money.
?But I thank God now, because I feel better. I rely on herbs which my friend introduced me to. Most of the other women depend on the herbs which we used to buy from some Yoruba women.?
Usually considered a man?s job, the rising spate of unemployment and poverty gave rise to manual rock-crushing. Surprisingly, all the workers on this site were women.
Mama Isaac had no shelter to work under, as she squatted under a mango tree to break rocks. Her face and legs were covered in stone dust, as she sat on the ground. She had a scarf around her head, as it prevented her hair from turning brown from the dust. Her once smooth palms had become calloused and rough, because of the stones and hammer she held daily.
Being a single mother encouraged her to work harder.
?It is difficult to lift heavy stones and break them into smaller pieces every day, but what can you do when all my children are looking up to me?? she asked.
Like many of the crushers, Mama Isaac said she had no regular customers; reason why she made no consistent income.
?Now that it is raining, some of the builders have stopped work. Sometimes, I sell once in a month or after a month. If I don?t sell, we sometimes go without food or I have to borrow money to buy food and pay rent from friends,? she said.
Meanwhile, manual rock-crushing had affected the health of some of the women. Asabe, one of Mama Isaac?s colleagues, developed chest pains and eye problems and eventually decided to visit a health clinic. The doctor told her that the pains resulted from extreme exertion of the chest muscles.
?I have developed eye problems and the doctors say I am at risk of contacting either tuberculosis or asthma. I have no choice but to continue working,? said Asabe.
The injuries and illness small-scale cup in the line of duty are numerous and most times, fatal. However, a medical doctor, Dr. Charles, resident in Suleja told our correspondent that the silicon crystalline, from the crushed rocks, lead to skin irritation and in most cases, acute dermatitis. Inhalation of same could also result in irritation of the lungs and mucus membrane.
?Some manual stone-crushers exhaust the elasticity of their joint and end up straining limb and facial muscles. ?They also stand risk of injuring their hands and eyes,? he said.
Most of the women said they hoped to, one day, find something else to do, besides breaking rocks and wished they would own shops in their old age.
?I am really tired of breaking stones; all I need is a job. I don?t mind whether I am employed as an office cleaner,? said Asabe.
She said crushing of stones by women was a business that had helped them fight poverty in their immediate families, though it was one they would not let their children inherit, because of its hard nature and the effect it was having on their health. She said those of them who found themselves doing the job worked hard to ensure that their children would not do same to earn a living.
?We are doing this job, not because we want to do it, but because there is no alternative available to us. It is a very difficult job, even for the men. But you can see that most of the people doing it here are women. We use these hammers on the rocks until they are crushed into smaller sizes. After that, we separate the rocks according to sizes. When you do that job for one day, you would like to rest for a week, at least. But no way! We still come out the next day.?
Compared to some of the other women. Most of whom were widows; Asabe ended her day at the quarry on time, so as to go prepare dinner for her husband.
?Even at that, we still do our usual work at home when we get back. We wash plates, cook, sweep the house and bath the children?.
