South of Dedza, Malawi … In some parts of the world the sight of men breaking rocks in a hot, dry, open area would remind the viewer of a prison yard, and men sentenced to a life of hard labor.
This scene in Malawi is nothing of the kind. It is actually men at work in gainful employment in the southern part of Dedza District beside highway M-1. They are breaking rocks to create smaller pieces to be used in various building and construction projects.
At times those who are unaware of the situation have questioned the poverty in this part of Africa. They equate poverty with the lack of a work ethic, and this causes them to wonder if the people work hard. The fact is there are few places in the industrialized world where people work as hard as they do in Malawi. The men and women in Malawi work harder than people in most industrialized nations, and this “gravel pit” is just one of the examples. In fact, it is the very absence of resources so readily available in the west that makes this backbreaking work in Malawi. Few in first world nations would ever consider working this hard for a couple of dollars a day.