Our farm manager has done some 'house art'. I found it amusing that someone would actually write that. Horrifying that its permanent...but gratifying that it's in response (I suspect) to all the hard work we've been doing at the farm.
Today didn't disappoint. Moving 11 tonne of manure was hard work- and that was just in the morning! they were heading back after lunch to get some river sand. Unfortunately I had an afternoon meeting..
So, ever wondered what 11 tonne on manure looks like?! Here's my day in pictures...
First it all had to be shovelled into sacks, which took 2 days. Then the guys stacked it all up ready to load into the truck.
50kg bags of manure- on their heads. Most of the time they would pick them up and swing them onto their heads themselves...then RUN!!! But one of the guys is alot smaller and less muscled than the rest (an orphan), so instead of letting him do light duties- they just helped load him up!
Running to the stockpile. I calculated that each worker has carried 9 tonne each in the last 2 days- carrying the bags to the loading area, then loading and unloading the truck.
Several miracles happened today- firstly they managed to fit what I calculated to be about 11 tonne on a 7 tonne truck. Then the truck made it all the way up the bicycle farm track without getting stuck! It was SO exciting having a truck on the track that all the village kids came running all the way up to the farm to see what was happening- then pitched in!
Yup- thats 10 kids carrying a 50kg sack for the fun of it. OH&S would have a fit.
6 comments:
Wow - that's so cool. I esp love the kids helping. What does the writing on the wall say under "I love total life care" ?
Liz, took me a little while to figure it out. Once I did I realised why Rina had a capital A in the middle of her post title!
Cuz, 50kg? That is even within Australian Worksafe Guidelines... remind them of that if they start to complain that they are getting tired!
hey Liz- sorry its not so clear in the shrunk photo- but is says 'I love Total Life Care because is a good project' :)
having the kids spontaneously (sp?!)jump in and help was pretty cool. Their reward was a ride in the back of the ute a few hundred m back to their village :)
Cuz..these guys are amazing. 5 guys moved an 11 tonne load -in 50kg sacks- 4 times in 3 days. To the truck loading area, onto the truck, off the truck, to its required location on the farm...by my calculations they carried almost 9 tonne each in a 3 day period...by the last day they were so sick of repetative trips that they were stacking 2 bags on their heads (bags I couldn't even heft higher than my waist) and I actually physically stopped one guy going for 3 bags cos I thought - 'if he does serious damage- there's no ambulance or decent hospital let alone insurance of any kind!'. Our Aussie labour laws may get a bit tedious- but sometimes I sure wish there were a few more here.
Wowza, they are crazy hey? How can they even lift that? In some ways I crave a little good hard work like that- been a while since I've had to really sweat! Minus the poo maybe!
often they can't lift it- it takes 2 other blokes to load em up- then they run, which is what i was trying to capture in the pics...yeah, a bit of hard work is good for the soul- but right now (8.45pm, 35deg) im definitely thinkin sweating is over-rated!
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