Ware sellers struggle to survive<\/p>\n
By Ida Indawati Khouw<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Despite the stiff competition in a modernized
\nsociety, Sarijem and Warjem are trying to make a living as door-
\nto-door vendors of traditional household goods.<\/p>\n
This mother and daughter-in-law team are not satisfied with
\ntheir meager daily income of between Rp 1,000 (28 U.S. cents) and
\nRp 3,000 -- or sometimes nothing -- but it is the only work they
\nknow.<\/p>\n
The two women sell wicker baskets and other traditional goods
\nwhich are rarely used nowadays. People prefer modern utensils
\nwhich retail at supermarkets for about the same price as the
\nhandmade alternatives.<\/p>\n
Sarijem, who is aged in her 50s, and 26-year-old Warjem, know
\nthe difficulties they face but believe they lack the necessary
\nskills to change their current work.<\/p>\n
\"It's getting harder and harder to earn money from selling
\nthese goods,\" Sarijem said.<\/p>\n
Their customers are mainly owners of food stalls and Padang
\nrestaurants, which still use traditional products to prepare
\nmeals.<\/p>\n
The women carry the goods on their back -- using a long piece
\nof cloth to harness rice baskets and steamers, cooking oil
\nfilters and brooms -- and pile them into a high, gravity-defying
\nstack. The weight of the load can reach 30 kilograms, Sarijem
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
They haul their wares for hours at a time, covering long
\ndistances and sometimes braving the heat of the day to make ends
\nmeet.<\/p>\n
\"What we think about every day is just how to get enough food
\nto fill our stomachs. We try not to be tempted into buying
\nclothes, good sandals or fancy things worn by rich people,\" they
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The women, who live in a rented room in Pejompongan, start
\ntheir daily rounds before 7 a.m. Their morning journey, with four
\nother vendors selling the same products, takes them along the
\nsmall alleys near Pejompongan and Palmerah market in Central
\nJakarta. Sometimes they stop at Kebayoran Lama market in South
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
\"Oh ... I only sold one rice basket and two rice spoons
\ntoday,\" Warjem said, fanning herself with the cloth from her
\nharness.<\/p>\n
\"It's better than yesterday when we did not earn a single
\ncent,\" the woman's mother-in-law said as the couple sheltered at
\na mosque on Jl. Gelora, Central Jakarta, to avoid the heat.<\/p>\n
They sell a rice basket for Rp 1,700 and the rice ladle for Rp
\n1,600. The profit from each item ranges from Rp 50 to Rp 500,
\nthey said.<\/p>\n
Several years ago, Sarijem's income could reach Rp 5,000 or Rp
\n6,000 a day, she recalled.<\/p>\n
It is increasingly difficult to earn money by selling
\ntraditional goods nowadays and many of their friends quit the
\nbusiness and went back to their hometown in Tegal Gubug near
\nCirebon, West Java.<\/p>\n
Sarijem said friends invited her to start selling the goods
\nmore than 10 years ago when successive droughts made life
\ndifficult for the people in her town. Her daughter-in-law joined
\nher three months ago.<\/p>\n
With an income of only Rp 2,000 a day, they have to be \"smart\"
\nto manage their finances, going without breakfast and sometimes
\nresisting the urge for lunch, the women said. A Rp 500 dinner,
\nconsisting of rice, tempeh and vegetables, is enough.<\/p>\n
Despite their small income, living in Jakarta is better than
\nlife in the West Java town during the dry season, they said.<\/p>\n
\"At least we can still save some of our money and give it to
\nour family who live in the town,\" Sarijem said.<\/p>\n
Sarijem has two children from her first husband and another
\nthree from the second. Warjem is married to Sarijem's son from
\nher first husband, who fled because he could not face the
\nhardships.<\/p>\n
Their husbands and children are living in the town and
\ncultivating other people's land.<\/p>\n
Once every two or three months, the women go back home \"to
\nmeet our family, of course\", Sarijem said.<\/p>\n
Part of their savings go toward bus tickets, which cost
\nbetween Rp 5,000 and Rp 6,000 each.<\/p>\n
\"What I want is ... to buy a bus so that we do not need to pay
\nevery time we want to go home,\" Sarijem joked.<\/p>\n
For Warjem, buying toys and food for her two sons whenever she
\nreturns home is a satisfying reward for her labor.<\/p>\n
But life goes on and so does the women's daily search for
\nmoney.<\/p>\n
Sarijem and Warjem once again launch into the \"song\" they sing
\nalong the streets and alleys of the city in a bid to draw in
\ncustomers: \"Madam ... buy our wares ... Madaaam ...\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ware-sellers-struggle-to-survive-1447893297",
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"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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