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"Korale…korale…" yells Boro every day from dawn to
dusk. He looks for scrap metals and other marketable
junks. He carries a sack on his back and roams along
the back streets shouting 'korale.' The job is very
taxing but he has to sweat to make ends meet and
raise his 3 children. He is so shy of having to sit
next to people with his bad smelling shoes and feet.
He has never heard about noise pollution and doesn't
seem to care much. If other people could do it, why
not Boro?
A guy comes from the opposite direction and while
passing he yells 'mololia mololi'
He is a vendor of brooms and brushes. It appears
that our ceramic tiles and cement floors could do
with a sweep.
The most ubiquitous and pestering of all informal
traders, are those vendors trying to barter and swap
utensils for old rags, clothes and footwear.
'Liwatch liwatch' They take some breath and repeat 'liwatch
liwatch You can close your eyes and listen to them
right now if you are residing inside the slum
section of Addis Abeba, housekeepers are 0ften the
best customers.
There are those smart guys who adjust their trades
according to the weather. They offer services of
repairing broken umbrellas and mending holes on
roofs during the rainy seasons. During summer time
they go around looking for mattresses to be hauled.
Currently, the business of metal, plastic products,
and aluminum is thriving. Of course for good reasons
in the light of the increasing demand for iron and
steel following growth in the industrial sector of
the economy.
Recycling of scrap metal is a relatively new
development in the industry. I remember that
unearthing buried metals was a dangerous venture
some decades ago. There wasn't much iron and steel
to speak about in Addis Abeba or other major towns
with the exceptions of Asmara and Dire Dawa. The
latter had a huge workshop at the railway station
with a big foundry for smelting iron and steel.
Big factories like the Cement and the Textile
factories were making good use of the capacities of
the foundry.
The fascist invaders had left the country in a hurry
and did not have time to collect their bombs.
Perhaps they might have left them deliberately who
knows? Many people were killed by the explosives
which were discovered unawares. Children playing
with these bombs would suffer dangerous and
sometimes fatal consequences, some even lost limbs
when they were accidentally blasted by whilst
playing.
Some people were led to believe that the rich had
buried their wealth to hide them from the invaders.
After the invaders left the country, there was much
digging work going on, both for rehabilitation and
treasure hunt. The digging for treasure, usually for
Maria Teresa silver coins, often culminated in the
unexpected detonation of buried explosives and
consequential deaths and wounds. The looming danger
had kept many of us aware of digging for scrap
metals never mind that there was money to be earned
from selling it.
Things have changed much over the years. People have
now realized that salvaged goods and dumped scraps
have some value, either as reusable or as inputs for
the recycling industry. My first encounter with
scrap collectors goes back to the early fifties when
the first glass factory was established on the Ambo
Road in Addis Abeba to manufacture different glasses
and bottles. At first collectors were simply picking
glasses and broken bottles from wherever they could
get them. Many residents took that as a blessing in
disguise since the collectors were clearing
playgrounds for their children and often clearing
them free of charge. Gradually broken bottles were
in high demand for reinforcing walls and fences,
became marketable.
Then came the 'korale' business. Korale is a
derivative of the term "korkoro yalew" or 'who has
any tin can to sell or barter?'. Any vendor who
roams the town yelling 'korale' also goes by that
trade name. Our Boro is no exception. People call
him kore for short. He would walk through the
villages and shout 'korale' calling for scrap metal
or anything including tin cans, empty bottles,
broken glass, dilapidated plastic pails and
containers.
Boro knows his trade like he knows the veins of his
palms. Housekeepers and maids are his favorite
clients as they do not put up strong bargains. He
pays some token money capitalizing on their little
knowledge about the values of the scraps. Boro would
flirt with some of these young maids and would quip,
"I am paying this much not because this junk is
worth it but because I want you to be my customer."
He always tries to under evaluate the scraps
claiming that nobody would buy the stuff for two
pence. That is his regular tactic of barter which he
has gained through experience over the years. The
trade has not only gained him his living, but also a
wife. His wife Lette is a housekeeper who had an
intimate affair with Boro, which developed into an
informal marriage and three children.
The 35-years old Boro was in the military service
before he was boarded. His actual name is Shegaw
before he picked the name Boro from his favorite
cigarette brand Marlboro. Boro is an affable person
to whom many maids easily fell into deep
acquaintance. After some persuasion he would pay
nominal amounts and would then take his metals and
sell it at a bargain price. Some times he earns
enough money to drop in at cheap bordellos and enjoy
a few flasks of Tej that would carouse him.
Although recycling scrap metals is a relatively new
business in this country, collectors like Boro are
finding it pays and lucrativly these days. The
vendors or the "korales" often capitalize on the
unawares of the uninformed community. Most of us
have no direct access to the recycling company or
the main collector or processor. We do not know what
fetches what, and have no idea about the jumble
market and the prices of scrap per unit of weight or
other measure. The dealers seem to keep business as
confidential as is possible. As more and more
factories compete for scrap metallic and
non-metallic items, the confidentiality may be
replaced by explicit advertisement calling for
jumbles and junks. Recycling is believed to be not
only gainful economically but also environmentally
friendly.
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