3.08.2008
Top Five
Sometimes I complain about my job here, but I don't have to look far to find people with worse jobs. After careful thought, and based on the intimate knowledge I've gained from watching people work out of my car's window, here are my top five contenders for worst job in Arusha:
-Wheelbarrow puller. These are not Radio Flyers, but car-size wooden wheelbarrows piled with concrete blocks or entire couch sets. They are backbreaking to pull uphills and perilous to ride down. Oh, and you have to put up with the maniac drivers on the same road.
-Subsistence farmer. I can barely lift a hoe. Much less use one to clear an entire field with a baby on my back, housework to do at home, and the water tap miles away.
-Housegirl. Usually brought from the village, I've seen them as young as nine, and they are pretty much 24 hour slaves to the biggest mama in the house. They get criticized for everything they (or anyone else) does wrong, and get no thanks. They are expected to work from early in the morning till the last dish is done at night. A recent wage reform requires them to be paid the equivalent of $55 dollars a month, which was widely laughed at, since everyone knows the going monthly rate is about $25. Oh, did you want an off day?
-Construction worker. This mostly involves carrying buckets of rocks and sand from place to place on your head. Boots and hardhats for foremen only.
-Lumberjack. Backbreaking defined; on easy days you are on one end of a two-man saw. Hard days involve rolling entire trees on and off of trucks using machines such as ramps and levers.
-Wheelbarrow puller. These are not Radio Flyers, but car-size wooden wheelbarrows piled with concrete blocks or entire couch sets. They are backbreaking to pull uphills and perilous to ride down. Oh, and you have to put up with the maniac drivers on the same road.
-Subsistence farmer. I can barely lift a hoe. Much less use one to clear an entire field with a baby on my back, housework to do at home, and the water tap miles away.
-Housegirl. Usually brought from the village, I've seen them as young as nine, and they are pretty much 24 hour slaves to the biggest mama in the house. They get criticized for everything they (or anyone else) does wrong, and get no thanks. They are expected to work from early in the morning till the last dish is done at night. A recent wage reform requires them to be paid the equivalent of $55 dollars a month, which was widely laughed at, since everyone knows the going monthly rate is about $25. Oh, did you want an off day?
-Construction worker. This mostly involves carrying buckets of rocks and sand from place to place on your head. Boots and hardhats for foremen only.
-Lumberjack. Backbreaking defined; on easy days you are on one end of a two-man saw. Hard days involve rolling entire trees on and off of trucks using machines such as ramps and levers.
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I guess it wouldn't really be a job if your couldn't complain about it. The ideal job is meant to be when you get paid for doing what you love. When I hear that all I can think of is musicians and artists.
These people you write about, like the woman carrying the bananas to market on her head, don't have to go to the gym after work to get their exercise! But they probably don't go home to read a book either or watch TV either!
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These people you write about, like the woman carrying the bananas to market on her head, don't have to go to the gym after work to get their exercise! But they probably don't go home to read a book either or watch TV either!
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