Meet the 22-year-old girl using TikTok to spur her stone-crushing work

At an expansive stone quarry in Warasojet, Kieni constituency Nyeri county, a girl makes her way into the quarry. She is armed with her tools of trade packed in a bucket and on the other hand a sledgehammer and a phone.

This is 22-year-old Wanjiku Kariuki reporting for duty where she has worked as a quarry worker for 8 years crushing rocks into the ballast.

“Nilikuwa nafanya vibarua kutafuta karo lakini nikaona haitoshi, mwalimu mkuu aliponituma nyumbani nikaanza kupiga mawe na after two weeks nikarudi nikamwabia nilikuwa napiga mawe na akanunua ile mawe,” she says.

It is a trade that she got into through her mother who also works as a quarry worker despite the trade being a male-dominated field.

Soon Wanjiku realized that the hard work under the hot sun was not yielding much as they had challenges selling the ballast, and it was then that an idea was born.

Her mother, Margaret Wangechi, says, “Nimewaonyesha ati lazima kila mmoja aweze kujifanyia kazi. Asingonjee kupew kitu na mtu.”

“Nilikuwa Napata watu wakiuza nguo kupitia tiktok, nikaanza kujiuliza na mimi kama naweza kuuza mawe yangu,” adds Wanjiku.

Since then her phone became one of the most important tools of her trade, and the first thing she does when she gets to work is set it up in strategic position, go live on her page and then her stone-pounding job begins.

She says her life has not been the same again since and the benefits are being felt by all in the quarry

“Aii kupitia mtandao nimeweza kupata wateja wengi hey, unakuta watu nikipiga mawe wananiambia wamengoja hii mambo nimepata kazi na ninana ngangana at least niweke wazai wangu vizru at least ata kama sio sana wakae vizuri kuliko saa hii,” says Wanjiku.

George Mwangi, a fellow quarry worker, says “Kitambo kazi yetu ilikuwa inajulikana tu hapa lakini sasa tunajulikana mbali na kama juzi tumepeleka mawe mpaka huko Sagana.”

She however says it has not been easy, as she at times experiences cyber bullying but she soldiers on.

“Kunawatu wananitusi, wanakuchukia, unatukanwa na pia wnakuongelesha vibaya lakini siwarudishii.”

She argues that social media should be a tool that helps the user economically, saying, “Anza biashara na utumie mtandao wako kuuza bidhaa za bishara yako Lakini usitumie mtandao wako kujiuza, kujiharibu na kufanya mambo itakuja kujiadhiri.”

As she continues to work under the scorching Kieni sun, she hopes that the incorporation of technology into a very manual job will keep changing her fortunes for the better.