When Pa Toe’s rubber tapping job could no longer support his livelihood, he turned to the wheelbarrow pushing for support. Abandoning his rubber farm in Compound Three, Buchannan, Grand Bassa County, he came to Monrovia as a wheelbarrow pusher—a self-employed job in Liberia.
“It’s a hard job,” said the 54-year-old father of seven, whose work involves navigating the congested human and vehicle traffic of Omega Market under the scorching sun to transport customer goods from the market to waiting vehicles — motorcycles, tricycles, keh-kehs, or taxis. He loads the wheel-barrow with the customer’s goods and pushes them to their designated site to support his family back home.
In Liberia, wheelbarrow riding is mostly done by men for self-sustainability and livelihood support. Unemployment, poverty, urbanization, and migration forced Toe and his peers to choose wheel-pushing — arduous work. Wheelbarrow riders often carry heavy loads without measuring weight. Prices are determined based on the size of the load and the distance by the rider, but it is negotiable.
Wheelbarrows are versatile tools used in various sectors: construction, domestic chores, and even for basic tasks like hauling water. They transport heavy items such as cement, sand, rice, and oil. Such items can be purchased in stores, shops, and markets. There are currently no regulations governing the use of wheelbarrows in Liberia. As one of the poorest countries in the world, Liberia faces a daunting challenge of high unemployment compounded by the challenge of rebuilding from the devastating impact of the conflict and the Ebola virus causing more than half of the country’s population to live in poverty, according to the World Bank 2023 Poverty Assessment report. Low human capacity is one of the vivid impacts of high poverty in Liberia.
The UNDP Human Development Index rates Liberia as one of the most disadvantaged countries in the world, ranking it 178 out of 191. In 2022, 52% of the population were illiterate. In rural areas, only 34% of Liberians can read and write.
Pa Toe and so many others who are unskilled and illiterate turned to meager, manual jobs such as wheelbarrow pushing that do not require formal education, a certificate, or other standardized qualification once they cannot afford to buy or rent one as self-employment.
“Wheelbarrow riding is not my area,” he said. “My area is tapping rubber.”
Wheel pushing is intensive work with less income. Riders rely on their physical strength to push the goods. Riders like Pa Toe, who are aging, suffer the most. They endured the weight, sun, and rain that caused illnesses such as muscle pain. “Sometimes I can be crying,” Pa Toe said. “You see my eyeballs red like this? I can be crying. We are suffering.”
His earnings do not exceed L$1,000 daily. Out of this amount, he pays L$100 to rent the wheelbarrow for a day. L$200 for food and L$50 for water.
Wheelbarrow riders are stationed at various markets, including Red-Light, Duala, and Omega. They are in almost every market in Liberia. They help marketeers move their goods from place to place. They bring them from the warehouses in the morning and return them in the evening. Their work begins at 5:00 am, transporting goods arriving in Monrovia from rural areas by cross-border traders.
In 2021, the administration of then-President George Weah relocated the Red Light market to the Omega market. Market stalls were demolished. Riders like Pa Toe had no choice but to join the evictees and had since been stationed in the Omega market.
Petty traders and other marketers also use wheelbarrows to sell. They sell everything from notebooks to women’s sandals to batteries from their wheelbarrows.
Due to its openness, anyone can become a rider once they can afford to buy or rent a wheelbarrow. Many criminals use this means to steal customer’s goods, pretending to be riders.
To address this, the riders have formed a union in various markets — Omega and Red Light. Daniel Gonkarnue, Assistant Chairman for the Nimba Field Omega United Wheelbarrow Brothers, said the group is reviving customers’ trust in riders. Members are marked with numbers and names at the back of their vests for full identification. He said once a customer’s goods go missing, the person can report it to their office. The rider would be traced and contacted for investigation. Once found culpable, the rider would be made to refund the cost of the goods.
“This thing is good. Many of our friends were running away with people’s goods, but with this customer, we can easily trace their goods when they are missing.”
“Some people used to carry people’s loads; complaints used to come to us, so we deem it necessary to form a union so that we can be respected,” he said.
Gonkarnue said that the group has over 100 members. According to him, apart from building customers’ trust, the union also helped riders gain respect. Pa Toe and FM Basewell, who joined last year, hailed the group for helping them gain respect and confidence from customers. It has built unity among riders, according to them.
Like Pa Toe, F.M. Basewell was forced to move back to Monrovia when his gold mining work was no longer putting money in his pocket. He said his wife encouraged him to come with the hope of finding another job.
“I was doing a security job, but I didn’t get paid on time, so I decided to forget about it and started riding a wheelbarrow,” Basewell, 35, said.
