The Sand Diggers of Mali: An Aerial View of Boats Afloat in the Rural Commune of Kalabancoro
This building boom has resulted in a sand-mining frenzy on the banks of the Niger River near Kangaba, as thousands of men and women work to dig up sand for use as building blocks in Bamako, the nation’s capital.
These boats carry the sand diggers to the often miles away extraction site from Bamako; then they use buckets to fetch sand by hand from the bottom of the river—going as deep as ten feet for high-quality sand. These boats only tell you how much these people depend on such a job to survive, though it’s incredibly dangerous.