Godoberi Builders (& Video)

“We don’t have brains, but we have hands”, said my Godoberi friend with a smile. He meant his people are not known for being creative. In Dagestan, the Kubachi people make premiere metal products, others make hand woven rugs, and even others comfy slippers. The Godoberi don’t have something like this, rather, going back to their origins have earned a reputation for their strength and toughness. Therefore, who better to handle heavy brick and cement, right?

“I don’t know exactly where from, or why, but our people have always been very strong physically. Time and time again, others could not keep up with us, we could do the physical labor faster. Since we didn’t have anything else to keep us busy, we started building.” A tradition of work that is passed down by each generation to this day.

When young men turn about 15 or 16, they begin to be taught how to build. Specifically, Godoberi are known widely as specialists of building houses with bricks - “We are the best brick builders”. Most don’t work for a company, they don’t need to, because they get called for work every year anyways. Word of mouth has spread widely, so the calls for work come. Most men have to leave their home and family for the summer months, as it’s the high season for building, and most jobs are outside of Dagestan. They go to other republics, and they go all the way north to Moscow. So it’s a burden on the entire family, but of course they need the money.

The living conditions are basic. Typically living sharing a type of trailer house with as many twin beds as can fit. Usually it is right next to their work site. Meals are shared, being typically simpler than in Dagestan. Their wife's, mother's, and sister's do the cooking back home, as it's their traditional role that still applies today. That being said, many men enjoy grilling shashlik (meat kebabs). Even sometimes one of the men enjoys cooking for the rest, and so prepared meals are more regular.

As for how they typically work, one friend told me, “It’s best to have three workers per house. Two stack the bricks, and the other mixes the cement, sets up the scaffolding, and cleans off any cement residue after stacking. And with just three men, you get paid more.” On a smaller house 2 my cover it, on a large house as many as 6+ may contribute. The Godoberi stack the bricks and cement blocks needed, and other workers tackle the rest after. They are specialists, and their brickwork is a work of art. See for yourself in this video: