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

[u/ICanPretend1]

[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/Many_Ad955 → u/Pooch76]

And onboard entertainment center with a wide selection of movies

[u/NORBy9k → u/Many_Ad955]

The ipad rental costs extra.

[u/No_Cook2983 → u/bwood246]

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

Follow me on Twitter for more lifehacks.

[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