Non-DIY Zone

A house being built next to us.

I consider ourselves fairly handy and willing to try many different things. If something needs to be fixed, we always consider doing it ourselves before paying someone else to do it. My father and grandfathers have built additions to homes and even large buildings on their properties. We seem to have the attitude 'why pay someone else to do it, if we can do it?'

So it has been fascinating living in this country in the Sahel where a DIY attitude is not prevalent at all, unless there is great necessity. It seems that although many people might have manual labor in their past from starting out in village life, now the middle class here does not do much manual labor on their own. From eating street food when their wife or children are out of town, to ironing, to building any kind of addition onto the home - even with scarcity of money, these things are not commonly done oneself. The attitude seems to be 'Why do it myself when I am not an expert? I better pay someone with the training/experience to do it." It surprises me even in small things like cutting toe-nails or shining shoes, people who complain about being without money will pay someone a few coins to do these things. Part of it may be that the cost of labor for just about anything is so cheap here that it makes it seem more sensible to hire out even simple tasks.

-- La Maestra