Watching from a distance.....

Waking up early in the morning from 5 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. to sit outside my compound has been a common occurrence to me

Each time I have had the road sweepers as my companions until proper daylight.

Recently my attention has been drawn to a very young boy, possibly around the age of 10 to 15 years old, a few times I've had the opportunity of speaking to him, though I haven't asked him any personal questions so I don't make him uncomfortable but today we had a little chat.. .. the picture below is a picture from where he was sweeping.

He actually initiated the conversation when an army van was passing by, he pointed them out to me and said ( see them oh go inside) asking me to go inside,(because of a lockdown in my area due to the covid-19) I smiled back at him and told him it was okay since I was in front of my house,, truthfully he saw them pass without looking my way..

Knowing there was a lockdown and restriction of public transport I asked him how they (him and his mom whom he was obviously helping out) got to work he said (we use leg trekk come) meaning they worked, from where he said he lived to where he was sweeping right now is approximately a 5 minutes drive.

He pointed something out to me about the difficult part of the job, packing the sand.

Looking at him something hit me.. Road sweepers and the challenges they face.

Doing my research I found out that nearly 69% of the city sweepers suffer from 

multiple health problems

It includes disorders related to bones, joints and muscles, lungs, eyes and skin. 

These health issues were due to prolonged exposure to dust, lack of periodic health screening and customised cleaning equipment like broom sticks and poor awareness and negligence in using safety gear.

Improper working posture, usage of short and damage brooms and inadequate supply of brooms.

The biological materials in the dust are capable of causing allergic diseases in humans, such as running nose watery eyes and sneezing by large size particles as well as swelling of lung tissue and asthma by fine particles.

Note: many of the sweepers do not survive more than two to three years post their retirement due to the prolonged exposure to pollution.

Aside all this they are not provided with health insurance.

People give them little or no respect,
daily they face life-threatening situations like accidents, and some especially the females get molested sexually. .. 

What is my aim??? To draw the reader's mind to the challenges road sweepers face.... When next you walk on the street and is tempted to litter the environment.