Most of the major intersections of Windhoek, Namibia have day laborers waiting on each corner. These men wait on corners six days a week hoping employers will stop and offer them work. It is a brutal existence.
Men typically wait in the tropical sun eight to ten hours a day with no bathrooms and no food.
During the month of January 1994 I interviewed eight of these men with the help of Szacky Nujoma, an Oshivambo speaking computer technician employed by the university. We selected men randomly from four different corners over three days. I learned quickly that their lives are very hard. A variety of circumstances cut them all off from public information sources. As a result they may go weeks without being able to see a television.