I think it should be noted that Francis Ngannou worked in a sand mine before making it to the UFC which is probably why the competetive sand miner says he's his inspiration beyond Francis being a national hero to many.
Mr. Walrus, thanks for the extra context. It makes more sense. At first, it felt like a big contrast between rich and poor, but with your context, it doesn't seem right.
they actually do get to enjoy a middle class lifestyle all with raising children by doing this hard work. In actual dollars it might be 20 dollars a day, but in their local economies that will afford you clean food, roof, and internet for your phone. Basically middle class life in the USA.
These type of videos make you rethink your life. We should be grateful for what we have. Huge respect and love to the people, who work like this for their family.
GRATEFUL? Continuation of Middle East+Western civilization is nearly 20000 years - we literally produced and invented everything, what we need. Nobody just came and give us something - everything was made by human individuals and supported by social system - collective form of coexistence. We must be mad, how everything is bad on our moder stage, when goods and wealth is so unevenly distributed and how we dug ourselves into this system of total capitalisation
@@maksimfedoryak bro what are you getting on with, all this person was saying is we should appreciate all the small things we take for granted. By the way when you try to hard to sound smart, you just come off as an ignorant
@@maksimfedoryakwhat’s all this “we” stuff? You want a share of wealth because a being of the same species produced and invented things? You’re worse than a thief. At least they have the guts to risk something and put in some effort to actually steal it. Go stand on a corner and beg for change bc the level of entitlement you expect isn’t happening.
@@slomo1662 Yeah but if they found gold, that'd be worth far more than $15, so it would be massively more valuable to them. And much less effort to exchange gold for money than it is to haul sand around.
@@PutItAway101 that’s the key. “If they find gold” they can’t just waste days on end to “hopefully” find gold when they need to support their families. I bet I could search for gold extensively for a week and not find gold and the cost of travel, food, time, and energy to find 15$ worth of gold would severely outweigh the 15$
Remember working with cutting and hammering concrete and brick walls We could shovel 6 tons (maximum) pr man a day I can seriously not imagine harvesting 9 tons pr man from down under water That is more than any man should carry !
That man is still a beast for his age, but bucket by bucket that adds up faster then you think. Plenty of jobs have you moving more weight then that a day.
dude that "strength" and physicality is what many westerners can only dream of atm. african tendons and body health in general must be alot stronger than westerners who sit at desks all day
right? complaining and hoping someone else solves your problems leads to way better outcomes right? we just have to collapse the capitalist system then ethical communists will give everyone UBI. both of those sentences were sarcasm btw. retiring wealthy is actually a very simple equation, you work, create a budget to track spending, spend less than you make and invest so you can get 11% average annual growth...
That's some intense physical work. Imagine taking so many runs holding your breath and then lifting that heavy bucket up through the water and to the boat. Definitely could be viewed as some good exercise. Many of us who will watch this video, though, probably have a hard time understanding what it would be like to live on $12 per day while also having to put in that much physical labor.
You too would be 🙂 I remember a guy from my village (in Europe), slightly older than me, but he didn't go to highschool. His work was cutting wood in the forest, sorting it and selling it locally as firewood. You should see that guy after a few years of working 😀 No gym, no powerlifting, nothing... just pure muscle.
We smashing too much. Overpopulated. We need to build new homes cuz all these babies we made grew up and needa place to make babies. Mars might be back on the menu. 😭😭😭😭😭
@@LS-pv4dh Actually the entire global north population is in decline. Look at china building tons of skyscraper on speculation and then just demolish them. Took a lot of sand to build them.
Yes. Although it's not so much running out of sand as running short of the right kind of sand in places we can access it economically. Most desert sand is useless for construction or anything else.
I’m not sure if the numbers add up to how much sand this guy moves in a day. The film said he works 4 hours a day, mining 9 tons of sand, using a 33 pound bucket. 9 tons is 18,000 pounds. Divide that by 33 pound buckets that’s 545 buckets per day. In 4 hours, that’s 136 buckets per hour, 2.27 buckets per minute, or 1 bucket every 26 seconds. And that’s with EVERY BUCKET taking the same 26 seconds, bucket number 1 to bucket number 545. I’m not doubting the work he’s putting in, but I’m calling BS on the numbers. Another thing to keep in mind is those 33 pound buckets are also partly filled with water, which then gets scooped out of the boat. So to end up with 18,000 pounds of (mostly) sand, it will take more than 545 dives.
Possibly. I also doubt whether that boat can hold 18,000 pounds (plus another 350 for the two men). That’s the weight of almost 4 Ford F-150’s. Can you imagine that boat holding 4 pick-up trucks? The whole thing just seems dubious.
They definitely mean him + partner. I'd also imagine they're using the metric tonne, which is 2204lbs 2204 * 9 = 19836 19836 / 33 (bucket) = 601(and some rounded off numbers) 601 / 2 = 300(ish) Title of video has "300 times per day". They're definitely skewing the numbers but they're achievable. They would be scooping a bucket 37(ish) times per hour. One bucket every minute and a half. No way they have scales there to measure the boat itself. They just did the math and gave friendly numbers.
I was gonna say Francis Ngannou who is possibly THE BEST heavy weight of all time was a sand miner when he was a child. He’s extremely humble and kind. He worked so so so so hard to get where he is from sleeping on the streets of France to just workout and eventually sleep in the gym. He’s the champion because he didn’t just lift weights in a gym he has TRUE strength from his many trials in life lifting weights makes you big and strong it not nearly as strong as someone who has done hard labor or free weights essentially.
@@RRRusan if they had machines they would earn a living wage. Thats why we are rich in the west and they dig up 9tons of sand for 12 dollars a day. Industrialisation is a good thing
@@leeham6230No it doesn't. Tendons and ligaments aren't remotely affected by muscle hypertrophy. The only time ligaments and tendons can't keep up is if someone is on steroids and even then you'd have to be going hard on the juice for that to happen. You can move wrong and screw up a ligament but muscle growth is not going to cause harm.
@@Kai...999 You have a strawman argument. I never said that muscle hypertrophy causes stress on other soft tissue, yet you explicitly state an argument against that. I didn't write that, bro! Manual labour will destroy your body long term. These guys look great, but I bet they make all kinds of noises when they sit down and stand back up lol. They likely also have all sorts of scar tissue built up in those muscles from exhaustion strains.
Sand divers perform an incredibly demanding and hazardous job, often overlooked and underappreciated. It's truly remarkable what they do. Traditionally, my country Benin, sourced construction sand from coastal areas, but due to erosion concerns, the government has wisely shifted focus to inland sites such as those in Abomey Calavi, So-Ava, Ouidah, and Seme Kpodji. I hope these brave individuals can find safer and more lucrative alternatives while ensuring their well-being and that of the planet.
I’ve been watching for years and these videos offer an immensely invaluable look into commonly overlooked places by the developed western world and it is so CRITICAL that these videos exist to share the story’s of our brothers and sisters doing what they can to survive in the ever broadening present world. From the humanity in me speaking, thank you from my heart for creating these videos. P.s. I’m endlessly curious, how difficult is it to find these beautiful people that are so willing to let westerners film their lives?
These videos and others that show the inner workings, and sacrifices required to get the job done, should be shown in primary schooling. It will provide a better foundation for the children to appreciate the work it takes to yield a moment of comfort
@@7eye7 that would be awesome, the childrens needed to know where all the stuff that they use daily like how the phones is made of, & where it came from.. The raw materials they get to make it.. To educate them not to take everything lightly & at the same time to nurture the knowledge of how those things impacted the environment..
I work in construction and there are a lot of older white dudes in their 60s that are RIPPED. They chain smoke ciggies and run circles around the 20 year olds. I think being extremely active counteracts ALOT of the damage from ciggs and everything else harmful in life.
@@subject8332 that was such a mediocre non-comeback, don't be so hyperbolic. it failed to answer to the implied criticism of my comment and failed to be particularly clever in any way (it's a cookie-cutter reply that doesn't make much sense in the first place...).
There are hundreds of thousands of used foundry sand in the US and across the world sitting in landfills. At some point, recycling this sand to make it usable for concrete production will become a cheaper option than the current environmentally damaging methods.
@@ronblack7870 There is already technology available to separate the sand from clay & other materials, and sizing can be managed as well to classify into the appropriate size. At some point, the cost of mining new sand will exceed the cost of reprocessing the old sand. I don’t think we’re there yet to be cost effective but the technology does exist.
It depends. I worked parts in the environmental industry and wrote reports about potential reusable natural ressources. You also have to check the material for its chemical quality, especially pollutants and in the case of foundry material...heavy metals. You can use it under certain conditions and defined thresholds of chemical components.
I feed my local wild birds, a 40 pound bag of fruit nut and seed mix in order for me to pick it up. I have to pick it up from the bottom or lay it flat and divide the weight so when I pick it up, there’s even distribution I can only imagine the way he must be picking up a bucket feels wet, sand, and water to survive his family every day multiple times a day
aside from the danger and low pay, works like this is actually quite a workout for strength and cardio, swimming up and down, lifting heavy, and holding breath. These guys are in great shape, I do hope they can better treatment though.
I honestly don't understand how the earth can handle all this depletion and it absolutely will start having an effect on us soon. Just look at one homes garbage for a weeks time. It's crazy to think of the scale of depletion we are commiting
Life will move on. There will be problems but don't act like mankind will disappear. Even the birds are ancestors of dinosaurs and we know what happened to them.
@@DT-wp4hk They're just catching up, and still a lot of pollution and depletion in China and India comes from direct exports to Western nations. If you include historical emissions some small countries like the UK have still polluted more in total than countries like India. Who are you to say they shouldn't develop their economies in the same way that we did? Especially when we could afford to be environmentally sustainable now and aren't, and Western nations still have the highest rates of consumption/pollution/depeletion per person. So no, maybe it doesn't "explain everything".
He's built better than a bodybuilder. He's got more endurance, more stamina, more function, more explosive power. He's built like an athlete. Give him some gloves and a mouthguard and he'll do pretty damn good in the ring I bet
We are already in a sand crisis. In fact its very easy to find information online where scientists are keeping a close eye on the shortage which is why some companies have been experimenting with breaking down glass and combining it in a sand mixture to use less sand but what they found was its does not last as long and breaks down faster.
Now that is a job! Huge respect for the man. I hope the people you made this video paid him extremely well for appearing in this video, he certainly deserves it.
9 tonnes a day. Even on land, that is a considerable average amount of mass that is moved by hand. On top of that, 300 apnoea dives to the bottom to be able to lift the sand at all. An unbelievable continuous effort if someone does this for several years. I take my hat off to these workers.
This dude said “I can hold my breath underwater… for more than a minute I’d say” 😐 I guarantee this dude can hold his breath for 3+ min easily. I used to do diaphragmatic breathing and got up to 3+ min, and I’m not close to being as in shape as he is.
when it comes to holding your breath its very mental ive had friends in good shape panic cant hold breath for more than a few seconds. Holding your breath is a lot of technique not power.
He needs to get some mma training and he would be an absolute monster. He is in peak physical shape even with the smokes, I bet his cardio is better than every fighter out there.
The 9 tons figure is definitely feasible. His bucket holds about 35 pounds of sand. Suppose he scoops just two buckets every minute, maybe three. That’s at least 4,200 pounds per hour. His shift is four hours. It checks out.
I hope one day I can use ancient technology and all my research into cheap and innovative technology to start my career as an engineer to give the hardest working men ìn the world like this man and so many of his people real jobs, homes and villages
@abdikadirm5504 I am really thankful for your blessing. I am native American scientologist and Christian but I do not disbelieve any god, philosophy or culture and to me it's all under the same God and is important and interesting.
@abdikadirm5504 I do not agree with the concept of God being human either but I think that is largely a misinterpretation of the trinity and origin of humanity. I believe to give us true free will God who in my opinion is the the universe and the rest of existence, he separated parts of himself and turned them into us making us his children, which would limit him in some ways but nowhere near the point of making him look mortal. I don't think I really classify under any religion those are just the most similar but really I'm all over the place I probably believe some parts directly out of your religion and don't even know it. I really wish there were other people with my beliefs it all seems so obvious and all the different religions seem so similar. All the conflict and confusion really makes no sense to me I feel like it's really just humanity returning to a tribal state and using their religion as an excuse and to get others involved.
He has a pet monkey and thanks God for his children everyday, and his body is shedded and he works 4hours a day and gets to drink with his friends and relax. I'd say he's blessed and a fine man! Pray God keeps blessing him and his family.
They're a lot more damaging to the ecology of the river and river bed too. Increasing productivity in the sand mines would probably lower productivity in the fisheries so much that it would be a net economic bust.
In underdeveloped countries the use of excavation equipment by mostly Chinese companies is essentially stealing the local people's future. When they bring in heavy equipment and mine out minerals and diamonds and such so much faster than could ever be done by hand. And they r exploiting the resources before the country is able to develop to the point where there won't any left for the future when they are modernized and begin to utilize them. The governments make deals with foreign investors for short term infrastructure projects, but then gain access to the deposits in perpetuity. Using the modern equipment empties these deposits at astronomical rates compared to a man with a bucket like in this video. Check it out online.
@@RichTapestry damaging to the ecology? buddy this is africa, that river probably has all sorts of chemicals fuels and other shit ( probably litterary shit ) flowing in it
@@TheCameltotem I'd love to be happy and stupid like you hahaha, the system is rigged and it's rigged everywhere although in way less obvious ways than this. it's got nothing to do with supply and demand.
Good video, but a quick nod to why beach & desert sand aren't usable for construction would have helped. We are indeed extracting river sand faster than it can replenish, but there are reasons why sand from the Sahara can't be used.
They said river sand is sharper than desert sand and that it can hold more moisture and the sharpness helps it binds to other materials to make concrete
There's a couple reasons, and I'm pretty sure the video is wrong. River sand isn't coarser and sharper, its been ground down over centuries giving it a more consistent grain size/shape compared to beach sand. Because rivers flow, the different particles of sand almost naturally segregate themselves based on grain-size similar to how a centrifuge can separate the different parts of blood due to their different densities. River sand grinds against itself as the river flows, smoothing them out a little, but not as much as desert sand. Beach sand, by contrast is contaminated with ocean debris, salt, wood, sea shells, sea-creature carcasses, and whatever else is found at a beach. It can't be easily cleaned or sifted, making it uneconomical as an alternative. If used raw... well, I'll explain that below. Beach sand is contaminated with salt and chlorine ions, which are both detrimental to concrete. Salt corrodes rebar and chlorine ions will rip concrete apart. If you've seen those video's of Chinese concrete people could break with their hands, that's concrete that used beach sand and too much water. Combined, they make the concrete weak enough to pull apart like Styrofoam. It's just strong enough to hold the building up for in the short term, but strong enough winds or even a small earthquake will cause it to fall (hence why hundreds of Chinese buildings collapse after each earthquake). Time will also cause it to fall, but they get torn down once an audit reveals the dire state of the building or nature beats auditors to the punch.
recyclers all over the world are using waste plastic is being used to make brick. Also, they use waste concrete from building and road demolition to make concrete blocks. Concrete block makers should look into this. There are government and environmental groups that would help with fundig.
Humanity in 1970’s: well the world may run out of trees, but dirt is basically infinite. Humanity in 2024: we appear to be running out of dirt and sand.
@Manlylon The heck is wrong with your brain, friend? You're telling me I can't do what he does. True. He can't do what I do, either. So what? You're the one trying to be a keyboard warrior. I'm just laughing at his wasteful spending when his family is hungry.
Sand is not going to be an issue. You can literally just hammer rocks into fine sand, it just requires additional labor which would increase the price of sand which in turn would cause issues. But it will not run out
Not sure if you heard about it but there is this thing called regulations. American companies are not allowed to do certain things that would have a negative impact on the environment while in Africa and China they can pretty much do whatever they want as long as they make money.
"sand is being mined faster than being replaced" was said several times... bruh sand been being mined faster than being replaced decades ago, and its a exponential curve in getting worst every year since back then.
"Converting 12 US dollars to 7000 CFA presents a favorable exchange rate for those being compensated in dollars, particularly if they have the option to utilize CFA. This arrangement is quite advantageous."
@@DS-lk3tx Yeah, Europeans didn't build ships 300 years ago that were stable enough to put an excavator arm on, not that they'd been invented yet. Also, don't look at where Europeans were getting their money from 300 years ago to build the galleons they did build, or why Cameroonians speak French 🙄
IDK man they probably got it down pat. Rocks and sand aren't heavy under water because of buoyancy. The only heavy lifting is over the edge of the boat. The bucket is shaped about right for scooping and scaping it off the bottom. The size of the bucket is just right and the metal is more rigid and durable than plastic. It also works good for bailing out water. They managed nine tons in four hours. They got this.
Why don't they use machines to do it? Machines sure would do it quicker no? It just seems like a non skilled manual job that could be automated quickly
@@RichTapestry What is so difficult for you to understand? People should make sure their children are taken care of before hitting the bar. Plain and simple.
@@RichTapestry We obviously have different ideas of what children deserve. I also notice you like repeating what I say, are you having trouble forming sentences?
Now that I am aware of the potential of a worldwide sand crisis, it will most certainly keep me up at night, fearing for future generations. Excavating 18,000lbs of sand in 4 hours using only a bucket or two is insanity though.
I think it should be noted that Francis Ngannou worked in a sand mine before making it to the UFC which is probably why the competetive sand miner says he's his inspiration beyond Francis being a national hero to many.
Thanks, this extra context helped
Working in a sand mine is different than sand dive, in a flowing River
Mr. Walrus, thanks for the extra context. It makes more sense. At first, it felt like a big contrast between rich and poor, but with your context, it doesn't seem right.
Literally nobody cares
@@MM-ww6yb 634 likes later. say you don't care.
Imagine how wealthy these dudes would be if hard work paid off.
American dream if it was actually the truth
White and Chinese people are way to busy robbing them.
Damn.
they actually do get to enjoy a middle class lifestyle all with raising children by doing this hard work. In actual dollars it might be 20 dollars a day, but in their local economies that will afford you clean food, roof, and internet for your phone. Basically middle class life in the USA.
@genericscout5408 Yes it looks like he's doing okay.
These type of videos make you rethink your life. We should be grateful for what we have. Huge respect and love to the people, who work like this for their family.
GRATEFUL? Continuation of Middle East+Western civilization is nearly 20000 years - we literally produced and invented everything, what we need. Nobody just came and give us something - everything was made by human individuals and supported by social system - collective form of coexistence. We must be mad, how everything is bad on our moder stage, when goods and wealth is so unevenly distributed and how we dug ourselves into this system of total capitalisation
@@maksimfedoryak bro what are you getting on with, all this person was saying is we should appreciate all the small things we take for granted. By the way when you try to hard to sound smart, you just come off as an ignorant
well said
@@maksimfedoryakwhat’s all this “we” stuff? You want a share of wealth because a being of the same species produced and invented things? You’re worse than a thief. At least they have the guts to risk something and put in some effort to actually steal it. Go stand on a corner and beg for change bc the level of entitlement you expect isn’t happening.
@@theclamhammer4447 yeah, wealth must be shared between individuals, because in the end capitalism will fail due to lack of real consumers.
"Finding sand is as valuable as finding gold". 5 seconds later...."A boatload of sand is worth up to $15".
alot easier to find 15$ of sand compared to 15$ worth of gold though but I get what you mean
for them, 15 dollars is much more valuable than gold is to us
@@slomo1662 Yeah but if they found gold, that'd be worth far more than $15, so it would be massively more valuable to them. And much less effort to exchange gold for money than it is to haul sand around.
Golds worth to us and Golds worth to them is the point. To them it is gold. Wake up.
@@PutItAway101 that’s the key. “If they find gold” they can’t just waste days on end to “hopefully” find gold when they need to support their families. I bet I could search for gold extensively for a week and not find gold and the cost of travel, food, time, and energy to find 15$ worth of gold would severely outweigh the 15$
Now that is a man who works hard to support his family. Damn.
he better grow own food, then doing this bullshit.
9 tons daily is insane. Dude is in the optimal peak shape. Even with the cigarettes, he's healthier than most "healthy" men
Remember working with cutting and hammering concrete and brick walls
We could shovel 6 tons (maximum) pr man a day
I can seriously not imagine harvesting 9 tons pr man from down under water
That is more than any man should carry !
We all smoked cigarettes too :-)
That man is still a beast for his age, but bucket by bucket that adds up faster then you think. Plenty of jobs have you moving more weight then that a day.
He's strong as hell but this much hard labor can't be good for the joints
dude that "strength" and physicality is what many westerners can only dream of atm. african tendons and body health in general must be alot stronger than westerners who sit at desks all day
So this is what Nganou meant when he said he worked in the sand mines. No wonder he was so jacked.
Yess 🇨🇲
And tough as nails .no athlete could do 30mins of this
He was a sand loader, not a miner. Mining is tough but not necessarily what makes you jacked. Loaders use shovels to fill trucks multiple times a day
@miskeen8701 Ngsnn😊
Francis just got kOd by one of the worst heavyweights in boxing.
This is real journalism, great video
Imagine taking these guys to a Sand Castle competition and telling them “This is what we use the Sand for”
but arent sand castles at beaches where theres already sand but i wouldnt know i didnt even know sand castle competitions existed.
@@Romanmonkey182 lol look that shit up. Its nutz. People got wayy too much time and way too much talent
sand at the beach is vastly different from river sand, concrete companies will tell you all about the differences.
or showing them the palm island project in dubai
@@Romanmonkey182 They often bring there own sand
I'll never complain about my office job again
Why would you? You have AC. Though I do prefer outdoor work over indoors, but you all are average joes.
Yes you will. 😂
I know right.
I will 😅
Yes you will
this is proof that hard work does not always pay off like we are told
How bad do you think his life would be if he wasn't working hard?? I bet it wouldn't be better
right? complaining and hoping someone else solves your problems leads to way better outcomes right? we just have to collapse the capitalist system then ethical communists will give everyone UBI. both of those sentences were sarcasm btw. retiring wealthy is actually a very simple equation, you work, create a budget to track spending, spend less than you make and invest so you can get 11% average annual growth...
Not when you are slave to a Chinese company
Wow so insightful!
I'll pass this on to the 1 billion or so people who live on less than $1 usd a day.
Sounds like you're making excuses to not work hard already. Time to grow up...
im from Cameroon and i ofen see these guys dive in the Wouri..... Man the job is Risky especially in the rainy season when the water level rises. DAMN
Why doesn't your government purchase and teach these men how to use more modern and efficient equipment to do this job?
@@carltonbanks5470 it won't benefit those at the top
Wow!!! 😄🙂
Are there any crocs?
lol the government isn't your daddy @@carltonbanks5470
Dude can’t they buy machine?
It’s amazing this guy can even swim back to surface without his massive balls weighing him down. Truly remarkable
😂😂😂
@wmack5217 That's a good one 🤣🤣🤣🤣
That's because he's standing.
That's some intense physical work. Imagine taking so many runs holding your breath and then lifting that heavy bucket up through the water and to the boat. Definitely could be viewed as some good exercise. Many of us who will watch this video, though, probably have a hard time understanding what it would be like to live on $12 per day while also having to put in that much physical labor.
Because it's a dumb labor. A smart guy with an excavator will fill the boatload of sand in a few minutes, compared to an entire day for this guy.
@@RomeoTheOptimist dont even need an excavator, the lever and pully system has been around for thousands of years
Dude is ripped
Elvis?
I swear I hate the censored part
What's the difference between chicken tenders and chicken strips their both strips of chicken, why different names?
You too would be 🙂 I remember a guy from my village (in Europe), slightly older than me, but he didn't go to highschool. His work was cutting wood in the forest, sorting it and selling it locally as firewood. You should see that guy after a few years of working 😀 No gym, no powerlifting, nothing... just pure muscle.
@@aaronnava2985
SHOW US THEM CHEEKS!!
you know shits bad on Earth when you start running out of sand
China has build million resident cities where no one is living. They have build major reserves of sand stacked up in those cities
We smashing too much. Overpopulated. We need to build new homes cuz all these babies we made grew up and needa place to make babies. Mars might be back on the menu. 😭😭😭😭😭
@@LS-pv4dh Actually the entire global north population is in decline. Look at china building tons of skyscraper on speculation and then just demolish them. Took a lot of sand to build them.
@@LS-pv4dh just not true lmfao, it's literally just corporate greed. No one is having babies anymore. Literally look up the stats
Yes. Although it's not so much running out of sand as running short of the right kind of sand in places we can access it economically.
Most desert sand is useless for construction or anything else.
I’m not sure if the numbers add up to how much sand this guy moves in a day. The film said he works 4 hours a day, mining 9 tons of sand, using a 33 pound bucket. 9 tons is 18,000 pounds. Divide that by 33 pound buckets that’s 545 buckets per day. In 4 hours, that’s 136 buckets per hour, 2.27 buckets per minute, or 1 bucket every 26 seconds. And that’s with EVERY BUCKET taking the same 26 seconds, bucket number 1 to bucket number 545.
I’m not doubting the work he’s putting in, but I’m calling BS on the numbers. Another thing to keep in mind is those 33 pound buckets are also partly filled with water, which then gets scooped out of the boat. So to end up with 18,000 pounds of (mostly) sand, it will take more than 545 dives.
Good point, maybe they were thinking him+his partner. Which still might be unrealistic but a little easier to imagine.
I think they meant he and his partner mined 9 tons of sand.
Possibly. I also doubt whether that boat can hold 18,000 pounds (plus another 350 for the two men). That’s the weight of almost 4 Ford F-150’s. Can you imagine that boat holding 4 pick-up trucks? The whole thing just seems dubious.
They definitely mean him + partner. I'd also imagine they're using the metric tonne, which is 2204lbs
2204 * 9 = 19836
19836 / 33 (bucket) = 601(and some rounded off numbers)
601 / 2 = 300(ish)
Title of video has "300 times per day".
They're definitely skewing the numbers but they're achievable. They would be scooping a bucket 37(ish) times per hour. One bucket every minute and a half. No way they have scales there to measure the boat itself. They just did the math and gave friendly numbers.
They said 9 tons of wet sand so possibly counting the water that's probably bailed
Somehow Humanity managed to make a crisis out sand... effing sand. Forget nice things, we can't even have simple things.
How do you make a billion starving Africans? Feed a thousand starving Africans. Then wait…
I was gonna say Francis Ngannou who is possibly THE BEST heavy weight of all time was a sand miner when he was a child. He’s extremely humble and kind. He worked so so so so hard to get where he is from sleeping on the streets of France to just workout and eventually sleep in the gym. He’s the champion because he didn’t just lift weights in a gym he has TRUE strength from his many trials in life lifting weights makes you big and strong it not nearly as strong as someone who has done hard labor or free weights essentially.
Proud of this father providing for his family 😢 may God make this man prosperous ❤
@@bryanmoore3927 you devils when you hear the word God you get triggered
@@bryanmoore3927 god militant atheism really is insufferable..... and i say that as someone who isn't the hugest fan of organised religion....
I cant imagine just collecting sand by hand all day. Savage
If only machines existed to do that kind of work.
@@remcodejong9149 no machines please. Let humans do hard work that makes us feel good, gives us purpose and get paid a living wage
@@RRRusan in that case you should be happy with almost nothing, because sand isn't worth much.
Based
@@RRRusan if they had machines they would earn a living wage. Thats why we are rich in the west and they dig up 9tons of sand for 12 dollars a day. Industrialisation is a good thing
They are jacked all natural too....and while smoking as well. These are some hardworking people.
What do you mean by those people? Racist
Yup, manual labor keeps the body strong
@@adisc7475 It keeps the muscles strong, but the joints, ligaments, all the soft tissue near the bones suffers.
@@leeham6230No it doesn't. Tendons and ligaments aren't remotely affected by muscle hypertrophy. The only time ligaments and tendons can't keep up is if someone is on steroids and even then you'd have to be going hard on the juice for that to happen. You can move wrong and screw up a ligament but muscle growth is not going to cause harm.
@@Kai...999 You have a strawman argument. I never said that muscle hypertrophy causes stress on other soft tissue, yet you explicitly state an argument against that. I didn't write that, bro!
Manual labour will destroy your body long term. These guys look great, but I bet they make all kinds of noises when they sit down and stand back up lol. They likely also have all sorts of scar tissue built up in those muscles from exhaustion strains.
Sand divers perform an incredibly demanding and hazardous job, often overlooked and underappreciated. It's truly remarkable what they do.
Traditionally, my country Benin, sourced construction sand from coastal areas, but due to erosion concerns, the government has wisely shifted focus to inland sites such as those in Abomey Calavi, So-Ava, Ouidah, and Seme Kpodji.
I hope these brave individuals can find safer and more lucrative alternatives while ensuring their well-being and that of the planet.
These men have to be in the greatest shape of their lives doing this work.
I’ve been watching for years and these videos offer an immensely invaluable look into commonly overlooked places by the developed western world and it is so CRITICAL that these videos exist to share the story’s of our brothers and sisters doing what they can to survive in the ever broadening present world.
From the humanity in me speaking, thank you from my heart for creating these videos.
P.s. I’m endlessly curious, how difficult is it to find these beautiful people that are so willing to let westerners film their lives?
These videos and others that show the inner workings, and sacrifices required to get the job done, should be shown in primary schooling. It will provide a better foundation for the children to appreciate the work it takes to yield a moment of comfort
Why wouldn't they let westerners film them...?
Exploited people by China
I mean, the world is fairly interconnected. Africa does have the Internet and phones.
@@7eye7
that would be awesome, the childrens needed to know where all the stuff that they use daily like how the phones is made of, & where it came from.. The raw materials they get to make it.. To educate them not to take everything lightly & at the same time to nurture the knowledge of how those things impacted the environment..
I thought my job was hard thanks for the reality check.i wish him all the best
at 3:58 my guy is bailing water with a cig in his mouth just after the narrator was building up his homie's lung capacity.
That’s a “healthy” cig, probably a Camel because more doctors smoke Camels 😅
@@Chainsaw-ASMRit’s basically an inhaler at that point
almost as if they dont affect your lung capacity but give you cancer instead which eventually does
I work in construction and there are a lot of older white dudes in their 60s that are RIPPED. They chain smoke ciggies and run circles around the 20 year olds. I think being extremely active counteracts ALOT of the damage from ciggs and everything else harmful in life.
@@Chainsaw-ASMR or a cheeky doobie 😉
Wearing little to no clothes..... thats called a bathing suit where i m from. Maybe you go in a tuxedo 😅
My guess is that they usually do it nude but wore shorts for the video.
@@CRneu
And no way are they not in 4feet of water it would be impossible to bring up 40 lb buckets of sand all day
@@CRneubut then how do they not scrape their hogs on the sides of the boat when getting back in ?
@@CRneuI don't think they go nude. That ding dong would be dangling without shorts and impeding his ability to do his work
I have many people to thank, im truly blessed. sometimes these videos remind me to keep the right perspective
This is such a dangerous way of life. These are the stories that really touches you and makes you appreciate your life.
This guy didn’t get to choose his life and you didn’t choose yours. Keep going and embrace gratitude.
facts the game's the game
What a loser mindset
@@bastobasto4866 well ignorant has already been taken.
@@radavisjr41 you've buried him so deep even sand miners wont find him
@@subject8332 that was such a mediocre non-comeback, don't be so hyperbolic. it failed to answer to the implied criticism of my comment and failed to be particularly clever in any way (it's a cookie-cutter reply that doesn't make much sense in the first place...).
There are hundreds of thousands of used foundry sand in the US and across the world sitting in landfills. At some point, recycling this sand to make it usable for concrete production will become a cheaper option than the current environmentally damaging methods.
foundry sand may be too fine and it also would have binders mixed into it.
@@ronblack7870 There is already technology available to separate the sand from clay & other materials, and sizing can be managed as well to classify into the appropriate size. At some point, the cost of mining new sand will exceed the cost of reprocessing the old sand. I don’t think we’re there yet to be cost effective but the technology does exist.
It depends. I worked parts in the environmental industry and wrote reports about potential reusable natural ressources. You also have to check the material for its chemical quality, especially pollutants and in the case of foundry material...heavy metals. You can use it under certain conditions and defined thresholds of chemical components.
I feed my local wild birds, a 40 pound bag of fruit nut and seed mix in order for me to pick it up. I have to pick it up from the bottom or lay it flat and divide the weight so when I pick it up, there’s even distribution I can only imagine the way he must be picking up a bucket feels wet, sand, and water to survive his family every day multiple times a day
Why would anyone care??
@@spencer5438I care. Why would anyone write such an asinine comment??
@@Avogadros_number loser
You need some lessons in the english. This is written the same way a 5 year old tells a story
@@CH42069The writing is perfectly fine. It's just missing punctuation.
aside from the danger and low pay, works like this is actually quite a workout for strength and cardio, swimming up and down, lifting heavy, and holding breath.
These guys are in great shape, I do hope they can better treatment though.
That is an honest Mans work. I bet he has no problem sleeping at night. God bless you Elvis .
Amazing to see my teammate Francis in this video. Truly such a good man!
Back breaking work......we need to rethink our lives and be very thankful for what we have....
Wow, what a fascinating story on the most mined product in the world. Excellent work!
What i like, is that he made sure and build a house for his family. That was brilliant!. 👍👏🙌💯
This is extremely motivating and inspiring. Going for a run doesn't sound so bad now.
I honestly don't understand how the earth can handle all this depletion and it absolutely will start having an effect on us soon. Just look at one homes garbage for a weeks time. It's crazy to think of the scale of depletion we are commiting
Go complain in China and India. They will explain everything.
Life will move on. There will be problems but don't act like mankind will disappear. Even the birds are ancestors of dinosaurs and we know what happened to them.
@@DT-wp4hk They're just catching up, and still a lot of pollution and depletion in China and India comes from direct exports to Western nations. If you include historical emissions some small countries like the UK have still polluted more in total than countries like India.
Who are you to say they shouldn't develop their economies in the same way that we did? Especially when we could afford to be environmentally sustainable now and aren't, and Western nations still have the highest rates of consumption/pollution/depeletion per person. So no, maybe it doesn't "explain everything".
@@RichTapestry The hypocrisy of the left in the west
@@RichTapestry typical answer by a lefty in the west.
This guy is not built like a bodybuilder, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's stronger with more endurance.
I'm sure he is.
He's built better than a bodybuilder. He's got more endurance, more stamina, more function, more explosive power. He's built like an athlete. Give him some gloves and a mouthguard and he'll do pretty damn good in the ring I bet
@@mixrable1212Definitely an athlete, but let’s not pretend that suddenly means you can fight lmao.
Alright lets not get this twisted. He probably has more endurance than some, but hes definitely not stronger.
@@HeathBlythe Acting like Bodybuilders aren’t physically stronger than 99% of people is crazy
We are already in a sand crisis. In fact its very easy to find information online where scientists are keeping a close eye on the shortage which is why some companies have been experimenting with breaking down glass and combining it in a sand mixture to use less sand but what they found was its does not last as long and breaks down faster.
Now that is a job! Huge respect for the man. I hope the people you made this video paid him extremely well for appearing in this video, he certainly deserves it.
9 tonnes a day. Even on land, that is a considerable average amount of mass that is moved by hand. On top of that, 300 apnoea dives to the bottom to be able to lift the sand at all. An unbelievable continuous effort if someone does this for several years. I take my hat off to these workers.
Poverty is more fearful.
My job is hard, but I'd die trying to do that 😂😂
$12 dollars a day?
And that is 2 cents usd
@@AreoQuest_aviation No.
@@AreoQuest_aviation $12 U.S. dollars in Cammeron would be big money.
@@itjustlookslikethis Not quite
@@itjustlookslikethis I know
Im on disability. I used to work iton foundries and steel mills but nothing ever as hard as this must be. Much respect !
Okay
your approach to video production is truly innovative!
This dude said “I can hold my breath underwater… for more than a minute I’d say” 😐
I guarantee this dude can hold his breath for 3+ min easily. I used to do diaphragmatic breathing and got up to 3+ min, and I’m not close to being as in shape as he is.
Well in almost every scene of him not diving he had a cigarette 😂 id say that's why
But he is carrying a lot of weight continuously while holding his breath. Different conditions.
oxigen consume.
when it comes to holding your breath its very mental ive had friends in good shape panic cant hold breath for more than a few seconds. Holding your breath is a lot of technique not power.
Holding your breath while completely still is one thing. Holding your breath while doing heavy labor is another thing entirely.
He needs to get some mma training and he would be an absolute monster. He is in peak physical shape even with the smokes, I bet his cardio is better than every fighter out there.
Francis Ngannou worked in sand mines before leaving Cameroon. He's said many guys there would destroy him in a fight.
@@pkj2148source?
His body will be irreparably destroyed by 50. That's not "peak physical shape."
@@pkj2148where are they? Wouldn't Francis put them on?
@pkj2148 well Francis has a low key racial superiority complex sp that doesn't surprise me he'd say that
Francis Ngannou is from here and he was a sand miner. It's credited as one of the reasons why he is so powerful.
HARD WORKING PEOPLE; RESPECT
The 9 tons figure is definitely feasible. His bucket holds about 35 pounds of sand. Suppose he scoops just two buckets every minute, maybe three. That’s at least 4,200 pounds per hour. His shift is four hours. It checks out.
I hope one day I can use ancient technology and all my research into cheap and innovative technology to start my career as an engineer to give the hardest working men ìn the world like this man and so many of his people real jobs, homes and villages
@abdikadirm5504 I am really thankful for your blessing. I am native American scientologist and Christian but I do not disbelieve any god, philosophy or culture and to me it's all under the same God and is important and interesting.
@abdikadirm5504 I do not agree with the concept of God being human either but I think that is largely a misinterpretation of the trinity and origin of humanity. I believe to give us true free will God who in my opinion is the the universe and the rest of existence, he separated parts of himself and turned them into us making us his children, which would limit him in some ways but nowhere near the point of making him look mortal. I don't think I really classify under any religion those are just the most similar but really I'm all over the place I probably believe some parts directly out of your religion and don't even know it. I really wish there were other people with my beliefs it all seems so obvious and all the different religions seem so similar. All the conflict and confusion really makes no sense to me I feel like it's really just humanity returning to a tribal state and using their religion as an excuse and to get others involved.
He has a pet monkey and thanks God for his children everyday, and his body is shedded and he works 4hours a day and gets to drink with his friends and relax. I'd say he's blessed and a fine man! Pray God keeps blessing him and his family.
you would think a excavator would be 100x more efficient than this.
What he is doing isn’t even legal lol
They're a lot more damaging to the ecology of the river and river bed too. Increasing productivity in the sand mines would probably lower productivity in the fisheries so much that it would be a net economic bust.
In underdeveloped countries the use of excavation equipment by mostly Chinese companies is essentially stealing the local people's future. When they bring in heavy equipment and mine out minerals and diamonds and such so much faster than could ever be done by hand. And they r exploiting the resources before the country is able to develop to the point where there won't any left for the future when they are modernized and begin to utilize them. The governments make deals with foreign investors for short term infrastructure projects, but then gain access to the deposits in perpetuity. Using the modern equipment empties these deposits at astronomical rates compared to a man with a bucket like in this video. Check it out online.
@@RichTapestry damaging to the ecology?
buddy this is africa, that river probably has all sorts of chemicals fuels and other shit ( probably litterary shit ) flowing in it
An informative video, nicely put together.
$12 bucks a day for that much sand is crazy, thats modern day slavery right there
Doesn't matter how hard you work if your work is useless
Its not slavery. Its just that no one is willing to pay more for it. Everything is supply and demand buddy
@@TheCameltotem I'd love to be happy and stupid like you hahaha, the system is rigged and it's rigged everywhere although in way less obvious ways than this. it's got nothing to do with supply and demand.
Welcome to capitalism's effect on the world.
you know everything is much cheaper in cameroon right? those 12$ there are about the same ball park as 120$ in the US.
12 Dollars a day to lift the weight of an elephant worth of sand off the river floor with a bucket is insane.
Doesn't matter how hard you work if your work is useless
Hard working family man. Much respect.
Congrats on the narrator for changing her style. No more ASMR breathy sleepy voice. 😆👍
This is one of the best BI video made.
Good video, but a quick nod to why beach & desert sand aren't usable for construction would have helped. We are indeed extracting river sand faster than it can replenish, but there are reasons why sand from the Sahara can't be used.
They mentioned something to do with ability to hold water
They said river sand is sharper than desert sand and that it can hold more moisture and the sharpness helps it binds to other materials to make concrete
There's a couple reasons, and I'm pretty sure the video is wrong. River sand isn't coarser and sharper, its been ground down over centuries giving it a more consistent grain size/shape compared to beach sand. Because rivers flow, the different particles of sand almost naturally segregate themselves based on grain-size similar to how a centrifuge can separate the different parts of blood due to their different densities. River sand grinds against itself as the river flows, smoothing them out a little, but not as much as desert sand. Beach sand, by contrast is contaminated with ocean debris, salt, wood, sea shells, sea-creature carcasses, and whatever else is found at a beach. It can't be easily cleaned or sifted, making it uneconomical as an alternative. If used raw... well, I'll explain that below.
Beach sand is contaminated with salt and chlorine ions, which are both detrimental to concrete. Salt corrodes rebar and chlorine ions will rip concrete apart. If you've seen those video's of Chinese concrete people could break with their hands, that's concrete that used beach sand and too much water. Combined, they make the concrete weak enough to pull apart like Styrofoam. It's just strong enough to hold the building up for in the short term, but strong enough winds or even a small earthquake will cause it to fall (hence why hundreds of Chinese buildings collapse after each earthquake). Time will also cause it to fall, but they get torn down once an audit reveals the dire state of the building or nature beats auditors to the punch.
@@crafterlula1328ohh wow thanks for that comment. I learned a lot and sincerely appreciate it
recyclers all over the world are using waste plastic is being used to make brick. Also, they use waste concrete from building and road demolition to make concrete blocks. Concrete block makers should look into this. There are government and environmental groups that would help with fundig.
govt and these groups fund this from other people's money, how about funding it with market demand from buyers...
Awesome. Nothing like being surrounded by high-VC phalates bound by ammonia compounds as you sleep
Could they move dry dessert sand into the rivers to replace it?
Good question
No that's too small
Earlier UP and Assam people came to Karnataka They go every morning To river,dive in Use bucket To collect Sand. Hats off to them
Man working hard to support his family. It's a pity job opportunities in his country are so poor.
thats a good workout. If you doing it daily
Good way to have a broken body by your 40/50s though
@@rundown132 how? all you doing is working out.
@@itypethetruthnobshere8975Everyday is the problem especially if you're not used to it or there's no preparation
@@itypethetruthnobshere8975 in water, none the less. One injury though, and it is probably over.
@@dbach1025 “In water” makes it easier on his joints though. It’s the definition of low impact.
Sometimes I cannot even fathom what an easy and amazing life I was born into. I could not begin to comprehend how difficult life can truly be.
Humanity in 1970’s: well the world may run out of trees, but dirt is basically infinite.
Humanity in 2024: we appear to be running out of dirt and sand.
God bless Africa 🙏➕😭❤🌍
That'll keep you in shape and your heart healthy!
Bro got better physique than my gym instructor
Anyone think about stripping the great desolate deserts of the world of sand? No diving required, It's like just sitting there.
He can barely afford three meals for his family but he's hanging out at the local bar 😂
Cameroon man 😂
He worked hard he deserves it . Beers are probably 25 cents
@@stevenotero2627 If his children aren't eating, he should save the few dollars he spends drinking. You disagree? 😂
@Manlylon I provide much better livelihood for my family than this guy does. He also couldn't do even a tenth of what I do. What a weird response.
@Manlylon The heck is wrong with your brain, friend? You're telling me I can't do what he does. True. He can't do what I do, either. So what? You're the one trying to be a keyboard warrior. I'm just laughing at his wasteful spending when his family is hungry.
Come to MANDERA Kenya 🇰🇪 WHERE YOUTH DIVE DAILY TO EXTRACT SAND BUT GOVERNMENT CHARGES THEM TAXES
Sand is not going to be an issue. You can literally just hammer rocks into fine sand, it just requires additional labor which would increase the price of sand which in turn would cause issues. But it will not run out
Imagine if ours worked this hard. Our country would be something.
What the hell Keith Sweat doing on the thumbnail?😂
Hilfuckinlarious
USA-biggest miner of sand
Video then goes on to show environmental impact of Chinese and African mining and skips USA
😂
BRO FR I WAS thinking the same thing
@@MrTej1971 should we expect any different from these consent manufacturing machines?
Not sure if you heard about it but there is this thing called regulations. American companies are not allowed to do certain things that would have a negative impact on the environment while in Africa and China they can pretty much do whatever they want as long as they make money.
People like these MADE THE WORLD
This inspired me to not be lazy anymore
Imagine if Africa was able to say fk the US and Europe, and used their resources for their own continent instead of being forced to sell it.
That sand is going into concrete that is being used locally. Why not just watch the video?
"sand is being mined faster than being replaced" was said several times... bruh sand been being mined faster than being replaced decades ago, and its a exponential curve in getting worst every year since back then.
no it's not, it's fine, stop being a crybaby liar
@@TheRealAD45 haha, scared of Googling I see
God dam, there’s a new crisis every single week 😂
Theres not. No such thing as sand crisis
@@EugeneLatterman So you didn't watch the video?
Poor people, this man have to struggle so much to feed his family, respect.
"Converting 12 US dollars to 7000 CFA presents a favorable exchange rate for those being compensated in dollars, particularly if they have the option to utilize CFA. This arrangement is quite advantageous."
These dudes are the real Olympians
Dude has a pet monkey! That is awesome!
The fact it's named Curtis too
Which one is the monkey
What so all blacks are related to monkeys and keep them as pets? Racist
@@charlesg7926all humans
@@charlesg7926One is for the yard, the other is for the porch. The one in the yard would usually be called an ape where I'm from 😂
imagine if they just tried to create a bettery way to scoop it out like... a excavator type arm scooper...
The weight and leverage of the arm trying to scoop the sand out would make that boat flip
@conorb7208 well I guess you need to build a more robust boat. Maybe look to what Europeans did 300 years ago.
You're forgetting they can't afford to buy and maintain that kind of thing, nor operate it.
imagine if they were...just rich? how imaginative, such solutions, wow
@@DS-lk3tx Yeah, Europeans didn't build ships 300 years ago that were stable enough to put an excavator arm on, not that they'd been invented yet.
Also, don't look at where Europeans were getting their money from 300 years ago to build the galleons they did build, or why Cameroonians speak French 🙄
Don't tell me America isn't a great country and isn't the land of opportunity. Homeless people make more money begging than these guys.
Id rather work like this than at an office, spoken as someone who has worked an incredibly physical job in the past. Its nice!
After 12 years you'd think he'd design a better scoop for the sand, I can already see better ways to do this
Go on...
...and if your idea is good, then I'll disperse the knowledge next time I visit there.
Share your idea.. You can never tell who's watching. Go on and make people's lives easier.
IDK man they probably got it down pat. Rocks and sand aren't heavy under water because of buoyancy. The only heavy lifting is over the edge of the boat. The bucket is shaped about right for scooping and scaping it off the bottom. The size of the bucket is just right and the metal is more rigid and durable than plastic. It also works good for bailing out water. They managed nine tons in four hours. They got this.
Why don't they use machines to do it? Machines sure would do it quicker no? It just seems like a non skilled manual job that could be automated quickly
@@raymondqiu8202bro what…what machines do they have access to?
The spice must flow!
Interesting how people struggle to feed their children every day, yet they have money for alcohol.
Gotta look after numero uno first I guess
Interesting how people can watch a video of such hard-work and still find vices to critique strangers with.
@@RichTapestry What is so difficult for you to understand? People should make sure their children are taken care of before hitting the bar. Plain and simple.
@@jakeoutdoors9600 I agree, but his children are taken care of, plain and simple.
@@RichTapestry We obviously have different ideas of what children deserve. I also notice you like repeating what I say, are you having trouble forming sentences?
the amount of gold in that sand is staggering.
Now that I am aware of the potential of a worldwide sand crisis, it will most certainly keep me up at night, fearing for future generations. Excavating 18,000lbs of sand in 4 hours using only a bucket or two is insanity though.
12:20 how tf they can crush bedrock??? As a minecraft player i can say its impossible