The hunt for large “pebbles” or aggregate for the cement.

Many construction items for the school, Emmanuel will say to me, “mum, there is no way out.” He means that the price is what it is, and he can not do anything about it. But when it comes to large “pebbles” or aggregate, he keeps trying to find the best price. The community center has needed more pebbles than the other buildings due to the extra columns in the foundation wall. He has been “hunting” for the best price for these large pebbles. He stopped at this large quarry where a machine makes the rocks into small rocks. but the price this year is more due to the government requiring more of these rocks for there road construction. Basic supply and demand.  So Emmanuel had an idea the other day to see if the Maasi were selling any large pebbles. And YES..they did have some small piles of pebbles. The Maasi chip away at the rock outcrops and then continue to chip the pebbles to the size needed for sale. Emmanuel bought 2 small truck loads of their pebbles. And he put in an order for 2 more small truck loads. The women promised to have them to him in 2 weeks! The women are the ones who chip the pebbles to the correct size!
This was Emmanuel’s first stop on his quest for pebbles! Too expensive here.
Quarry stop number two. Again, too expensive.
Stop number 3. The rocks here are owned by the people who live on this “street.” The rocks in the field are chipped away at, and then the women finish the chipping.

Two small trucks of large pebbles from the Maasi are delivered. He saved the school money by “hunting” for the best price on large pebbles. I appreciate all his hard work trying to make our dollars stretch as far as it can!

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *