Public Project
Gakinjiro Market
They are building ‘tippy taps’, which are water dispensers for hand-washing, fundamental to combat the spread of the virus, that you can find all over Kigali. They are placed in front of shops and bus terminals and people are actually using them, otherwise they are reminded by a security guard to do so.
This workshop, Gakinjiro, situated in central Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, was rather crowded and the hope is that there were no infected people among the workers.
In these pictures, the different stages of construction of the dispensers are represented: the sawing and soldering of the metal bars of the trellis stands, and the bending of metal sheets to build water tanks for the models not made of plastic.
During my time in the workshop I had the occasion to appreciate the good atmosphere between the workers. Amidst the loud machinery noise, it was not uncommon to also hear a great deal of laughter.
These photos were taken one day before lockdown which resulted in the complete closure of the workshop, with dozens of workers subsequently left without pay to fend for themselves in a uncertain and precarious environment.
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