Just across the field from the orphanage lies one of the typical brick factories from that side of the world. I mentioned it in an earlier post while I was still there that it was quite the throwback in time and space. I felt very awkward walking into their workspace like a disrespectful, gawking American. But I tried to show as much respect as I could, making sure not to get in anyone's way, and trying not to take photos that would any further reduce their dignity. Thankfully, they didn't seem to mind us much. Perhaps it was a boost for their dignity that a group like ours would take the time to admire their work. This was one of those many moments when my mind couldn't entirely wrap around what I was seeing, that this would still exist somewhere in the same world we live in today.
Some of the workers' kids gathered around to see the funny looking visitors. They got a treat to see themselves on the digital camera displays.The long handcart path to the kiln. They had walk about a quarter of a mile one-way.
The ladies crouched down a little to pick up or were handed bricks by the men to balance on their heads. The men carried more across their shoulders. These were the dried bricks ready to be fired in the kiln.
This is one of the entrances to part of the kiln, and yes, it's as small as it looks. With the little claustrophobia I have, I can't imagine crouching down to tote loads of bricks into a giant, underground oven. The guys on top with the sticks are stoking the fires through holes in the top.
Here's a closer view of the stokers and their baskets of coals. The guy in the black pants and gray polo shirt is the manager of the place.
While on top of the kiln mound, I noticed this young man to the right working hard down below. What drew my eye to him was that he was moving in an unusual way, then I noticed that he had to move himself around with his arms, resting on his knees becuase there was absolutely no muscle on his lower legs. In the closer crop you can see the thinness of the dark line to his foot. For his own dignity, he maneuvered himself so that he was sitting on the side where the bricks lay on the ground with his legs between the bricks. His leg was entirely hidden by the thickness of one brick high. When I pointed him out to Dr. Taylor standing next to me, he said that a person like that back home would be sitting in his hosue comfortably on disability. True as it is, there is much good and bad to that statement. Regardless of his condition, this young man was working for his living, and not just sitting in a cushy wheelchair at a computer all day. There is a lot that we can learn from pictures like this.
The ladies crouched down a little to pick up or were handed bricks by the men to balance on their heads. The men carried more across their shoulders. These were the dried bricks ready to be fired in the kiln.This is one of the entrances to part of the kiln, and yes, it's as small as it looks. With the little claustrophobia I have, I can't imagine crouching down to tote loads of bricks into a giant, underground oven. The guys on top with the sticks are stoking the fires through holes in the top.Here's a closer view of the stokers and their baskets of coals. The guy in the black pants and gray polo shirt is the manager of the place.While on top of the kiln mound, I noticed this young man to the right working hard down below. What drew my eye to him was that he was moving in an unusual way, then I noticed that he had to move himself around with his arms, resting on his knees becuase there was absolutely no muscle on his lower legs. In the closer crop you can see the thinness of the dark line to his foot. For his own dignity, he maneuvered himself so that he was sitting on the side where the bricks lay on the ground with his legs between the bricks. His leg was entirely hidden by the thickness of one brick high. When I pointed him out to Dr. Taylor standing next to me, he said that a person like that back home would be sitting in his hosue comfortably on disability. True as it is, there is much good and bad to that statement. Regardless of his condition, this young man was working for his living, and not just sitting in a cushy wheelchair at a computer all day. There is a lot that we can learn from pictures like this.
This young couple must be from a different shift.
Hiking back to the orphanage to say our good-byes.
On the way back into town, this high-rise apartment complex caught my eye in the contrast of poverty all around it.
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