(From right) Lilian Dudu pictured with Regina at their stone-selling point. | Photo: Michael Daniel/EYe Radio.

For more than a decade, Lilian Dudu has been making a living from stone crushing on the slopes of Jebel Kujur (mountain) in the heart of Juba city. She now employs more than 20 women.

When she started the stone quarry business in 2010, Dudu used to wake up at dawn to break up large stones into smaller particles at the Rock City suburb before filing it along the roadside for sale.

She says and a day was paid according to the number of piles that are sold.

“I used to smash rocks to small sizes working from early in the morning up to the afternoon. I do this manually, by transporting and crushing large stones and packing them in small piles,” Dudu said in an interview with Eye Radio.

Dudu, now 65, is nicknamed Dudu Stone due to his decade-long stone business. And not only that, she has created jobs for over 20 women in rock quarrying to help them provide for their families.

In 2020, Dudu properly established the rock quarrying enterprise – expanding it to employ more than 20 women, who are mostly widows.

Now the women are feeding and schooling their children from the business.

‘Hard labor’

Dudu said stone crushing is hard and manual as they have no technological machines to help in breaking the rocks apart from hand tools.

“Some of the women go to top of the mountain to bring rocks by carrying it on their head while other receive and break down the rocks using hand tools,” she said.

Some of the women working for her, spoke to Eye Radio about how they have benefited from the job, and are now independent and providing for themselves and their families.

One of the laborers is 50-year-old Regina, mother to five children. She declined to reveal her second name while speaking to Eye Radio.

Having joined the rock quarrying in 2021, she said the work is tedious as they have to use their hands to break the rocks then carry it down slopes.

“We are moving pieces of rock on our heads from the top of the mountain to the bottom, then we are breaking it and putting it in piles,” she said.

“We also wait for the buyers. We are breaking these rocks with our hands, and it is a difficult task. In many cases, we get injuries that stop us from working.”

She said the job often leave them fatigued or injured.

However, she said despite the difficult business, she earns around $300 a month for her family upkeep.

A large part of this money end up being used in buying woods to burn the rocks and other necessities.

Helen, (who refuses to be identified by her full names) also talked about her experiences in the rock quarrying business.

A widow, Helen told Eye Radio her husband’s demise was followed by another sad event; the passing of her eldest son, who used to help her in bringing up the kids.

The 55-year-old is the most senior in the job having started quarry in 2006.

According to her, she has not made progress in the job – apart from providing for her children’s needs, despite working for 20 years.

However, she said she is now working hard to build a house to shelter her with the children.

On her part, Martha Emmanuel, 45, has also been breaking rocks since 2007 after her husband died leaving behind three children.

Martha spends most of her time waiting for purchasers to buy her rocks, so as to cater for her family’s needs.