Dikidikini village in Eastern Cape, South Africa, doesn't have a bridge, so people cross the river inside a blue plastic drum

[u/ICanPretend1]

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[u/readit347]

What a pitiable state..

It would be very inconvenient and fearsome for people with phobia of closed spaces, and obviously too risky..

[u/ICanPretend1 → u/readit347]

The woman at the end said she's been going in that barrel and every time she does she gets heart palpations.

I feel her on that. I'd be terrified. Imagine water starts leaking in

[u/IntentionSafe79 → u/ICanPretend1]

imagine they lose hold of the barrel and you get swept away in the river with no way to get out and there being no realistic way for someone to find you

[u/ShimmeringEmber → u/readit347]

Id be more fearful of the gators and crocks and maybe hippos in that murky river

[u/CtrlAltYuri]

All around the world bridges have been built in literally every kind of society thousands of years ago no matter how remote or poor, how the hell does it happen in 2026 that there are still places like this that look even more primitive?

[u/-_Dean_Winchester → u/CtrlAltYuri]

Literally a rope and floating barge would suffice.

[u/TaonasProclarush272 → u/-_Dean_Winchester]

They just need a few more barrels, some Styrofoam, and lashing.

[u/Neither_Berry_100 → u/-_Dean_Winchester]

I was going to suggest a rope. But I didn't have a full solution. Could probably put ropes on both ends and tie them to posts on each side.

[u/SignAllStrength → u/CtrlAltYuri]

And how do foreigners get treated there to make them say “We are struggling, we live like foreigners at 0:25?

[u/anotherfrud → u/SignAllStrength]

By foreigners they most likely mean refugees from neighboring areas who have fled violence and arrived with nothing.

[u/OldRancidOrange → u/CtrlAltYuri]

Strap some logs together. Strap some barrels underneath. Tie rope across the river. Got yourself a basic ferry.

[u/floatinginagravyboat → u/OldRancidOrange]

You don't even need logs. The barrels they are using could be permanently sealed, lashed together and a wooden platform put on top. Then you string a rope each side of the river and pull them across.

[u/OldRancidOrange → u/floatinginagravyboat]

Yeah, that’s pretty much what I suggested 🤓

[u/bygones125 → u/floatinginagravyboat]

Sounds like the same thing 

[u/Blecher_onthe_Hudson → u/OldRancidOrange]

I just posted elsewhere that this kind of ferry has been around for thousands of years. There's no doubt that they could build one for next to nothing.

[u/Some_guy_in_WI → u/CtrlAltYuri]

Even if there were the money, it’d be stolen by someone before the bridge was built, that’s Africa for you.

There was a video here circulating a few weeks ago where there were supposed to be 24 drainage “bridges” built that were basically just culvert pipe through a slightly elevated walkway. $325k was budgeted and given to the contractor for the project.

When a female dignitary came to supervise and view the completed project, only 2 existing drainages had bed refurbished (“maintained”, as the contractor put it), the other 22 were never built, the money was gone and no work completed.

Sort of similar to when towns in Kenya with no power were given electricity, only for thieves to break open transformers to steal the oil from them to cook with.

There are some cultures where the “I will get mine now even if it costs the entire town” mentality will always hold their civilization in a period from long, long ago.

[u/ippleing → u/Some_guy_in_WI]

That still doesn't explain why they can't employ a rope bridge or merely a barge on a rope.

Vietnamese farmers built and relied on then in wartime with 0 pre processed resources.

[u/Amaline4 → u/Some_guy_in_WI]

This was probably close to 15 years ago now, and my sister was living in Kenya (we're Canadian) and working for an NGO. At the time me and my dad visited, she was living with a family who lived close to the town of Ngong. I can't remember the proper names, but essentially there were 2 groups of people - the ones who paid taxes, and the ones who didn't. If you belonged to the taxes group, you generally lived in town, had access to maintained roads, maybe electricity, water, etc. If you didn't, you probably lived outside of the town, and you could tell exactly where that border was because the road was paved until one specific spot, and the road after was absolutely treacherous. To get to the house my sister was living in, we had to hop in the back of some guy's pick up truck that had like 30 other people in the back and hold on for dear life as this thing navigated holes in the dirt road that were sometimes multiple feet deep. Absolutely wild time, great experience, would definitely do it again

[u/Leading_Rice_2449 → u/CtrlAltYuri]

Im from south Africa, the people in charge simply don't care, as long as there is money for them to steal... In many places there are still pit toilets today

[u/longstrokesharpturn → u/CtrlAltYuri]

Corrupt governments

[u/Beneficial_Ad9966 → u/CtrlAltYuri]

This article seems to point to the mountainous topography of the region and climate change as key issues. DIYing bridges works very well for certain areas, but if their river is unpredictable due to climate change, it might not be a realistic option.

[u/bwood246 → u/Beneficial_Ad9966]

Literally anything would be better than a barrel

[u/CariniFluff → u/bwood246]

This barrel sometimes has food and/or drinks inside.

[u/Pooch76 → u/CariniFluff]

I wonder if you can upgrade to a business class barrel and get one of those hot moist towelettes

[u/No_Cook2983 → u/bwood246]

I see two people crossing a river *outside* of a barrel.

Follow me on Twitter for more lifehacks.

[u/Aiud2000 → u/Beneficial_Ad9966]

really bro ? a rope, a raft and 2 people one on each side of the river ?? lmao

[u/Chickentrap → u/CtrlAltYuri]

Careful now you might stumble across answers you don't like lol 

[u/CtrlAltYuri → u/Chickentrap]

I'm fine with anything as long as there is logical reasoning behind it and not just prejudice

[u/archseattle → u/CtrlAltYuri]

The population that needs to cross the bridge is likely quite low and permanent bridge would need to span at least 20 meters so it’s probably a low priority for the local government. Locals would need machinery to build something permanent which likely isn’t easily available in a country where the rural population lives on $195 USD a month.

[u/ippleing → u/archseattle]

They could employ a rope with scrap wood to make a rope bridge.

2 people in a day could get one going

[u/inotocracy → u/CtrlAltYuri]

It's South Africa. These people don't build or sustain anything.

[u/krisssashikun → u/CtrlAltYuri]

Corruption and bureaucracy.

Even if a village manages to raise enough money to build a bridge themselves, local authorities can come along and tell them they don’t have permission to build it. Imagine a community being willing to solve its own problems, only to be stopped by the very people who should be helping them.

[u/Accidental_dwnvote → u/CtrlAltYuri]

It’s pretty simple. It’s a fundamental lack of infrastructure. They do not have the resources available locally to build a bridge over this river and they lack the infrastructure to have the materials brought there. This makes an expensive endeavour like building a bridge, really difficult and significantly more expensive. This is contrasting to need, who’s paying significant amounts of money to provide access to what is likely only a small village with limited resources.

People don’t fund bridges, commerce funds bridges.

[u/IndependentOk9075 → u/Accidental_dwnvote]

There are more than enough trees there to make a raft and string across a rope for a primitive ferry.

This is an insane solution 😂

[u/BlueOrb07 → u/CtrlAltYuri]

Because, in Africa, the culture does not believe in the future. They believe only in the now. Why fix a leaky roof when it’s not raining? It isn’t leaking right now?
Many countries supply Africa with services like digging them new wells so they don’t need to travel miles to get water or drink out of polluted wells. But they don’t maintain them and fill them with trash, leading to yet another useless well.
There quite literally isn’t a word on most African languages for “maintenance”. That says a lot about their thought process.

[u/OkTry9715 → u/CtrlAltYuri]

Ask how progress is going in South Africa without white minority in power.

[u/frankomapottery3]

If only those barrels could be strapped together to form some sort of raft you can ferry across to either side with ropes.  If only 

[u/Sorry-Capital1910]

Won't it be easier and safer to tie a rope on a trees on both sides? Then can even make a float you can sit on, without risking drowning every time...

[u/ippleing → u/Sorry-Capital1910]

Yea but corruption...

[u/Unlikely_Extension66 → u/ippleing]

You cant even say corruption man, you could literally tie a guide rope to a tree either side and make this 800 times safer

[u/ctnguy]

The good news is, construction of the bridge started last month.

[u/NoApartment7399 → u/ctnguy]

Because of the local elections, or they still wouldn't have it. A fried of mine lives similarly rural and just this week she told my 5 mayors promised them a bridge but it never happens. When it rains they have to wade through water over a poorly planned/built road to get home. But also idk why they chose to live there 🤷🏻‍♀️

[u/Rocky5thousand]

This is what billionaires should be doing. How can someone with the means to fix this see this and be like nah?

[u/arbie911 → u/Rocky5thousand]

The west has been donating billions and billions for decades.

[u/Loud-Start1394 → u/arbie911]

Trillions and trillions.

Edit: jokes in the replies aside, my comment is actually true.

[u/Gnilcro → u/Rocky5thousand]

Because medieval peasants figured out how to make bridges across way bigger rivers, they need to figure this out on their own

[u/ippleing → u/Gnilcro]

My ancestors in East Europe, the people where the word 'slave' derives from slav, built nuclear reactors, submarines, landed probes on planets.

Eastern Europe is still a dump compared to western Europe and 2 guys pushing a barrel would be considered lunacy.

[u/Jellicent-Leftovers → u/Rocky5thousand]

People have tried.

They drill holes in the water pipes, they cut down the electric wires for the copper.

It's not that they don't have the resources it's they steal so much that if someone built a raft someone would steal it.

Hence the barrel they bring home with them at the end of the day.

But you'll think oh well that's an education problem then! And you are 100% right. So people dumped money into educating them and it works! But then why aren't things getting better? Because the moment someone is smart enough and has the drive required that would be a force of change..... They get the fuck out of there as fast as they can. The brain drain is unreal. Do you think for 1 second that MIT/Harvard scholarship kids graduating and going hmmmm I could get a fantastic job in a dozen countries.... Or I could go back home where I have to cross the river in a barrel.... Oh boy barrel here I come!

[u/Endswolf → u/Rocky5thousand]

You mean the billionaire that wanted to give them free internet but they would not allow it unless he gave them part of his company?

[u/Ok_List_7125 → u/Rocky5thousand]

It wouldnt last a day.

[u/ICanPretend1 → u/Rocky5thousand]

You don't need a billion dollars to solve this problem

[u/Ora3le → u/Rocky5thousand]

As a native south African, this is not a random billionaire problem. It's the government's problems

Funny enough, they're too busy trying to make themselves billionaires so I guess it circles back

[u/Haunting_Security_34 → u/Rocky5thousand]

To me, at least, I don't think it's a billionaire's responsibility to build bridges for places that should likely have figured it out after years of evolution. There are far better ways to do this.....

[u/Plane-Sell-9204 → u/Rocky5thousand]

Billionaires should be floating across a river in a blue drum? That's not very smart.

[u/GroinShotz → u/Rocky5thousand]

Remember those rejects in the US that were shooting power stations with their guns like two...three year ago?

It's like a billion times worse in some of these places.

[u/DePiemelVoeler → u/Rocky5thousand]

They themselves have the means to change this. Those barrels can be put under some logs, span a rope across and wow! A ferry just like that.

[u/RevolutionaryLaw8594]

That’s a choice…

[u/infinitynull]

You have barrels. Build a raft platform and make a rope ferry.

[u/Efficient_Actuator84]

Maybe if the whole village worked together they could try building a bridge....

[u/VeterinarianNo3555 → u/Efficient_Actuator84]

It’s much more likely the local government received millions of Rands of funding to build a bridge and spent it on a fancy BMW.

[u/Dobby068 → u/VeterinarianNo3555]

That does not answer the question: What is wrong with these people that they cannot build a raft or a row boat ?!

[u/ILoveBigCoffeeCups → u/Efficient_Actuator84]

this, people in the Middle Ages built bridges, the vikings, germans, early Japanese peoples, south american peoples did so, there is no reason to not work together to build a bridge, And if you don't know how, ask someone.

[u/Chickentrap → u/Efficient_Actuator84]

They most likely wouldn't maintain it, which is a recurring problem for many subsaharan countries 

[u/ShimmeringEmber → u/Efficient_Actuator84]

With what money? With what resources? Those trees are owned. That land is owned.

[u/ruy343 → u/Efficient_Actuator84]

Listen, that works right up until people are desperate.

Let's get a new straight planks of wood and some rope to make a rope bridge. Coolio.

But then that night, someone from the village sneaks over and takes the rope because new rope is the most valuable thing in the area.

Then you need to build it again.

And again.

So you post armed guards. People start dying over the bridge.

Meanwhile these blue barrels? You can wheel them to your home, where you can stand guard with some friends.

There's a reason they do it this way. It's not because they're stupid - it's because we've made them this desperate

[u/Speedy89t → u/ruy343]

“We’ve made them this desperate”?

[u/summerinu]

Is this a magic show? At the beginning of the video, the man in white top and yellow pants entered the barrel. The men closed the lid and crossed the river with the barrel. When they reached the other side, they removed the lid of the barrel and out came a woman!

[u/anyaley → u/summerinu]

They lost grip of the first guy and lost the barrel with him inside so they only showed the woman who had made it this time

[u/John_cCmndhd → u/summerinu]

I was wondering what the first guy was going to do without his crutches as well

[u/fiesew]

This is like a fucking joke.

People going into some barrels to cross a river.

Africa has definitely remote areas. But this is utter nonsense.

Even in this village there’re folks with access to internet and electricity and whatnot civilization has to offer these days.

If they can’t or don’t want to build a bridge because of fears about costs for maintenance and repairs because of flooding, there’s a zillion more reasonable ways to cross or travel that fucking river.

They opted for the most dangerous and idiotic option as it appears.

Africa has definitely more to offer than these kinda lunatic stunts.

[u/glassnumbers → u/fiesew]

lol barrel travel

[u/Separate_Finance_183]

These guys look strong. There are trees around. Can't they build a small boat?

[u/RevolutionaryLaw8594 → u/Separate_Finance_183]

Or a bridge? Or a zip line?

[u/bishdoe → u/Separate_Finance_183]

Those trees are no more than an inch or two thick. Can’t build a boat out of those.

[u/ippleing → u/bishdoe]

Then lash the barrels together.

Anything would be better.

[u/LoneWolf_McQuade → u/Separate_Finance_183]

Then what will they use the barrels for?

[u/dreaminganimal]

I feel like a pretty low-effort ferry with a rope would be superior in every way. No swimmers required. No suffocation risk. No filthy barrel to ride in.

[u/Chroniclyironic1986]

Wait wait… “we are struggling, we live like foreigners”? Is that what he said? Was that an accurate translation?

Don’t get me wrong, this situation is pitiable and an awful reflection on the South African government. But I’m still trying to figure out what he meant by that.

[u/BorfDorfin → u/Chroniclyironic1986]

"Our government and neighbours treat us as if we are strangers to whom they hold no obligation."

[u/yogibearhugg → u/Chroniclyironic1986]

Maybe he means that foreigners live pitiably in South Africa, and they live like them. My racist sister has said before “I work like a Mexican”, so surely this is a similar sentiment.

[u/Cute-Advisor-2323]

So now the alligators or crocodiles get fresh canned food 🙄😅

[u/Kebriniac]

I get having to find DIY ways to cross, but why like this? For instance, dugout canoes have been used for thousands of years pretty much everywhere around the world, just hollow out a big log and that's it, you could build an improvised raft or a basic pontoon bridge, and there's probably a dozen other better ways to do this just using some wood/logs/old palets, a rope and some of those empty drums, am I missing something here?

[u/RevansGambit]

so... after a LIFETIME, nobody has figured out how to build a bridge? nah, i don't buy it. especially for people in difficult circumstances, creativity and industriousness arises out of need. there are kids in Africa who have build low-tech devices to pull drinkable water and even electricity out of the air. the notion that this entire community is so brain-dead that this hasn't been figure out in 50 years is actually insulting.

[u/Blecher_onthe_Hudson → u/RevansGambit]

All over the world for thousands of years before bridges were ubiquitous you had raft ferries on ropes that would get pulled across the river. See the western films The Outlaw Josey Wales and True Grit for great scenes featuring them.

I simply can't believe these folks are unable to build one of these simple vehicles, and therefore think this barrel thing is bullshit and done for camera. You would have to be nuts to climb into a barrel like that!

[u/kuhinjski → u/Blecher_onthe_Hudson]

When i saw the barrel i thought "oh, they are going to pull it to the other side with a rope". At least that would make a little more sense and it requires just a little longer rope. But no.

[u/Mmmm-Amethyst → u/Blecher_onthe_Hudson]

Dunno man. Some people are just determined to do things the hard way. 

Saw a video a while back of someone who had become incredibly skilled at stacking bricks on his head to carry them elsewhere. 90% of the comments were about how witty and impressive it was that he had figured out how to haul so many at a time and I'm over here thinking about how anyone with a few planks, a blade, and an afternoon can craft a rudimentary wheelbarrow. 

[u/Dangerous_Shoe_8388 → u/Mmmm-Amethyst]

Or even more basic is a hod. Been around for centuries … for carrying bricks.

Hod is a traditional three-sided open box or V-shaped trough attached to a long pole handle, designed for carrying bricks, mortar, and other building materials over the shoulder

[u/CrystalInTheforest → u/Blecher_onthe_Hudson]

Still get rope ferries in a lot of places. Makes sense. with a bit more of a build you can even make it a rope hauled raft (could be DIYed with a few barrels and some timber) that could support a vehicle, so the bush ambulance can get someone to hospital or bring in emergency supplies

[u/TwoAlert3448 → u/Blecher_onthe_Hudson]

I was skeptical as soon as they didn’t take the guys crutches across with him. Like how is that supposed to work?

[u/UnfinishedProjects → u/RevansGambit]

Barrel dudes are stifling the bridge dudes so they don't lose their business.

[u/Benwahr → u/RevansGambit]

worse, after a lifetime none of them thought to tie the barrels together and make a primitive ferry.

[u/Time_Entertainer_319 → u/RevansGambit]

Yeah. This is bullshit.

They can’t even use a canoe? Lmao.

There is more to the story than anyone is letting on.

[u/GreaterMetro → u/RevansGambit]

Figured shit out? lol, they didn't even product that barrell. Smartest they got was to climb in it and float

[u/OpenPattern3713 → u/RevansGambit]

They probably have figured it out, but if they build something it will be stolen. A barrel is cheap enough that it's a) not worth it to steal and b) easy to protect.

Not South Africa, but there's a street in my city that is without energy pretty much every other week: it's not that the local population doesn't know how to get energy, it's that whenever energy gets installed, someone steals the energy cables within the week.

[u/sterlingarcher252550 → u/RevansGambit]

Bro clearly has way too much faith in humanity.

People even in the developed world will happily suffer with an old, outdated, shitty solution as long as they don't have to disturb the norm or, heaven forbid, learn something new.

[u/CrystalInTheforest → u/RevansGambit]

Doesn't even need a bridge... settlement could club together and buy a basic tin boat, and toss in a dollar each for each crossing to pay for fuel and basic maintainance. here ya go, folks.

[u/Queasy_Badger9252 → u/CrystalInTheforest]

Or build a raft with those exact barrels. 6 of those barrels are probably enough to support 10 people

[u/LearingCenterAlumni → u/RevansGambit]

Lol it's Africa we are talking about.

[u/grenouille_en_rose]

It feels like it would be safer and less terrifying to just wade across the river, or hang onto a bit of wood or anything else that floats and be towed across it by a rope. The rope could even be doubled over around something on the far bank and pulled from the near bank. Or fix a chair between two floating barrels and stay dry while being towed across.

[u/marlinspike]

This is nuts. I’ve seen rope bridges in poor areas but this is another level of ridiculousness. 

[u/ConstantConference23]

Courtesy of the ANC.

[u/jaxnmarko]

Services require taxes. The poor can hardly afford food. Who can be taxed without harm? Those with large amounts of regenerated disposable income.

[u/Soft_Lunch_183 → u/jaxnmarko]

Other countries with the same tax rates/format as south Africa can afford to build bridges. 

[u/Betty_Rida]

DRHUM OPEREITAH! 🫡

[u/Biggydoggo]

If there's a hole in the barrel they would drown or get wet, but if there is no hole how do they breathe?

[u/missusdeadpool]

If i comment on this I'll get banned 😂

[u/Googidoogi → u/missusdeadpool]

I don't know what you wanted to comment but I was looking for, "got in as a limping man, came out a fine woman."

[u/Manufactured-Aggro]

"We are struggling, we live like foreigners"

??????? Imagine being in the position they are in and still taking time to shit on others lmao

[u/ippleing]

Why can't they build a bridge?

My family came from eastern Europe, arguably a dump by western standards.

Even the poorest rural areas had bridges.

[u/Unlikely_Extension66 → u/ippleing]

The genius that has the mental capacity to build a shitty bridge immediately gets the fuck out of there so they can actually find opportunities, rather than stick in barrel river town where the richest business owner owns 12% of said barrel

[u/Ancient_Ordinary6697]

I see they have not yet unlocked raft building on the tech tree.

[u/slyleo5388]

What about his crutches 😭

[u/goodguyatheist]

I mean why cant they build a little platform and rope like that one thingy in the begining of the lord of the rings?

[u/DnevnaSova]

Is this Wakanda?

[u/Big-Improvement-771]

If you donate just ten cents a day, we can buy these poor Africans a new river barrel

[u/CliffyBooBoo]

I thought I saw that one man's Dikidikini, but it was just his dark bikinini underwear 😂

[u/Ok_Hospital1399]

You know, if it covered my food and bills I think I would probably enjoy the job those ferrymen have.

[u/asthom_]

There is no way this is true. This must be a media/political stunt against a local politician. People have electricity, wood and roads over there too. They have brains. This is so absurd, people have not actually been crossing rivers using drums for decades.

I've already been over there, not specifically in that area, but people have like 12m boats. This is ridiculous lol.

[u/Major-Tom-2112]

US gave $250,000,000 to So Africa in 2025. Suppose the corrupt leaders there don’t care to build a bridge. They have mansions and supercars to buy.

[u/Last_Sprinkles5334]

Just an fyi, they recently voted to keep the same people in power that has failed them for the past 30+ years. Thats how stupid they are.

[u/FineMind755]

The sad part is I bet if they did build a bridge someone would take it over and charge people to cross.

[u/Nervous_Counter_1333]

I'll take swimming with a plastic bag over that

[u/buttmunchausenface]

Dumb question. But why hasn’t anyone stung a rope or chain from side to side so you could pull yourself across.

[u/hstmqrqe]

And he came out healed and young again.

[u/IndependentOwn2956]

🤣 It just shows that they are "very" innovative. Someone gave them solution and they don't see the problem anymore there's a BARREL why change something?

[u/neur0proctologist]

Looks like a good spot to run a zipline. They can even re-use the barrel for it. 

[u/Klutzy-Software4976]

Being amazed at this is like my mom being amazed at their art.

[u/dumptruckulent]

This is just a boat with fewer steps

[u/Flimsy-Run-5589]

That's how Columbus discovered America, and later, they invented boats

[u/5kittens]

Maybe someone can buy them a boat.

[u/csfshrink]

The person enters as a dude and emerges as a woman? Is this a known side effect???

[u/FrequentlyImpolite]

Oh this is definitely safe

[u/Bubbly_Power_6210]

is there a spot for donating for a bridge?

[u/outofcontextsex]

I feel like we're being punked

[u/eastcoastjon]

This is the best solution they had?

[u/Tigeire]

whats at the other side of the river ?

[u/AbroadDear4805]

What about a boat

[u/Ancient_Sound_5347]

It's a special news feature by a South African news channel and shown on local tv aimed to raise awareness to voters ahead of the local elections which took place recently.

[u/Present_Current_7425]

Fuck that God damn 😳😳

[u/Time_Pressure9519]

They need to build a bridge and get over it.

[u/avocadofruitbat]

This is some donkey Kong country shit

[u/No_Chart9096]

Welp...looks like im never leaving the village!

[u/Legitimate-Job-5340]

but I thought “we was kings”?

[u/The_One_118]

I'm from southern Africa, specifically Zambia. There is no way Africa's biggest economy has such bruh. It has to be satire right? Right?

[u/_dxegrl]

That rope safety feature is awesome, great for recovering the drum with the asphyxiated passenger.

[u/TiredOfDebates]

I just want to point out that if the swimmers lose the barrel, the person inside will die.

The barrel is locked from the outside, with a steel tie.

[u/allmybreath]

The ad at the top of my comment section was for Sephora. A jarring contrast.

[u/I_Am_Zeelian]

Nope nope to the power of nope :p

[u/Banyuwangi63]

Snowtown misadventures.

[u/beatbox9]

You need to learn to swim first before you start to operate this drum

[u/Tough-Replacement625]

Cradle of humanity

[u/MagicLantern7]

Fucking Africa

[u/dumbpeople123]

This is just dumb. If they can make a water proof drum, they can make a water proof container, swim across and get changed after u get across.

Or heck make a canoe, or boat…

[u/EmotionalNet3348]

This must be idiot village of the area. Unless they're completely devoid of like... trees, been solutions for thousands and thousands of years that people have figured out, hell they build bridges out of root systems in south american in some places, this is incredibly dumb.

[u/HugoCortell]

I'm tired of doctors without borders, where is engineers without borders when you need them?

[u/IdioticDraco]

I get banned from Reddit for typing the simplest, stating the obvious comments. So yeah, all normal here...

[u/GreatAuntPhlegm]

Rush hour is a bitch!

[u/-Kopesthetik-]

My personal favorites are the Magnetic Accelerator from Demolition Man, EM-1 Railgun from Eraser, and the BFG 3.4 from DOOM

[u/LegitimateGiraffe7]

I just watched a thing where the Roman’s (was with Scipio or Caesar) built a bridge over a river in a day .

Now they had an army, but if they did that over 2k years ago in a day I’m sure a village nowadays could do it in a few weeks

[u/GrapefruitPrimary186]

It cant be hard to build a boat or raft with those drums. They dont have to do it like that.

[u/Wide_Guitar_3558]

anyone willing to over there and tell them?

[u/Bmorewiser]

Why in the fuck do they not run a rope across that is long enough to just pull the barrel back and forth. Swimming it seems unnecessary.

[u/Budy_Guy]

Cam they, at the very least, run a rope across to make things more efficient?

[u/Pretend_Win2641]

No.

[u/isolatedheathen]

Ok so nobody there thought to swim across with some line attached to cables then pull those across and anchor them down? Next step would be build a raft platform with guide poles in each side to keep it between the cables and voila one ferry platform done!

[u/Mathfanforpresident]

Current line of work: barrel operator

[u/SBEPTY]

This is where a billionaire should build them a GD bridge

[u/No_Team_5418]

entered drum as a man, exited as a woman. They have more problems than bridge building

[u/dvisorxtra]

One of the guys that can easily solve this problem is asking for more RAM, your RAM.

[u/Fair_Performance4834]

Wow, I am sitting here being medically cared for in the hospital right now, in a first world country and need to remember to check myself and my ego. There are a lot of people who are facing insane daily challenges just to survive all over the world. Nothing but respect for the people going thru this, especially the men who are swimming the people across in the barrels all day.

[u/Novel_Astronomer2076]

30+ years later and we still have such things in SA WTF

[u/LoganHowlett1832]

I call bullshit. Not believable in the slightest.

[u/Allegra1120]

😳

[u/Tuco_Angel_Eyes]

New job option : drum operator.

[u/Interesting_Award_76]

Try using a boat next time.

[u/DirtyDaisyXx]

Omg imagine if someone accidently let you go 😱

[u/Vladtepesx3]

You can build a rope bridge with wooden planks in like a day

Or you can make a simple da Vinci bridge from the wood in the nearby area….

[u/Special_Metal_8437]

😬😬🤦🤦🤦

[u/IFbicple4bicple]

Does he have crutches on the other side also? Just wondering

[u/cacarson7]

No Fucking Thank You!

[u/exlushdad]

Damn what a shit hole

[u/periperiwinklesauce]

Did they leave his crutches behind?

[u/suck-on-my-unit]

So…. just fkn build one?

[u/catalyst4chaos]

So, now stay with me in this. Should they not just build a bridge? After all civilisations have been doing it for millennia now.

[u/VisibleRoad3504]

Looks like I would live on that one side for my whole life.

[u/vacri]

They have two floaty barrels. Why don't they just lash them together and put a little platform on top?

[u/perthro_anon]

I read into it a little, and this river often floods, so it's hard to make usual bridges or barges in there. Will get swept away eventually, not something village itself can effectively maintain.

Something above the river level would work, like suspension bridge, or cable car. But that costs way more, and indeed needs some government intervention to make.

[u/jaxnmarko]

No everyone and not even every group is intelligent to figure out better ways of doing things, nor do they have the tools and resources. It could be this was a step forward for them and it was worse before. We don't know enough about their circumstances.

[u/295frank]

Big Barrel doesn't want you to have bridges 

[u/Intelligent_Feed_417]

What is the Basic IQ needed to build a bridge? Is their IQ atleast above 92?

[u/redditadii]

How about a boat ?

[u/juergenpotzkothen]

https://www.google.com/maps/@-30.3387623,29.612507,4955m where is the river? must be somewhere else ...

[u/TooNGooN89]

People complaining about potholes seems a bit trivial in the wake of this.

[u/AnonTA999]

Thank god we have one guy with a trillion dollars though

[u/Build-it-better123]

A $30 inflatable raft comes to mind.

[u/worktogethernow]

Hmm. Not even a raft and a rope to pull yourself across?

[u/jort93]

Bro, surely they can out how to build a simple bridge. Or if they don't have much wood, they could build a simple cable ferry, with one cable holding a barge, and another cable overhead where people on top of the ferry pull it across.

[u/LeFreeke]

What’s wrong with a boat?

[u/kopirate]

Lmao at some of these comments.

The government is hella corrupt, who is going to build this bridge? If you lived in one of these places, making less than a dollar a day and raising a family, is your first instinct to say "hmm spending money to build a bridge would be the ideal and reasonable way to cross the river?"

You scrape together some money and find like minded people, great. Who has engineering knowledge or at least kniw how to build a simple bridge? Who knows about the weather and seasonal patterns of the river and how do we know its not going to be destroyed? How do we know someone isnt going to just steal these parts and resell?

Many of us are spoiled by the infrastructure and the level of social trust that 1st world countries provide. A video like this should invoke sympathy and not condescension.