Busting Rocks and Saving Eyes

Some cool dudes

The solar-powered school we are building requires a lot of concrete and concrete is expensive.

In Uganda they use aggregates to reduce concrete costs.  Aggregates are small pieces of rock about 3cm wide.  These are placed inside the foundation of the school before the concrete is poured in, thus saving on expensive concrete.

As I type this I hear the sounds of rocks being busted.  Just across from the guest house are a couple of guys we have hired to gather aggregates for us.   It’s a very simple technique.  They take a big rock and turn it into a pile of small rocks via the use of a hammer.

The going rate for a wheelbarrow full of aggregates is about $US 1.75.

One problem with this technique is that small splinters of rocks fly into the worker’s eye and they sometimes lose the eye.

I want a cool school, but not if it requires the loss of an eye.  So, as a very primitive safety technique I gave the workers some sunglasses.  They were most pleased