Many Solo women face great struggles in their lives

Many Solo women face great struggles in their lives

Text by Singgir Kartana, photos by Ali Budiman

SURAKARTA, Central Java (JP): Surakarta, better known as Solo,
is famous for its beautiful women, a phenomenon that inspired the
late Ismail Marzuki to compose Putri Solo (Girl from Solo).

The Javanese song, which met with great success when it was
covered by Waljinah in the 1970s, is filled with adoration for
the beauty, cultured mind and refined behavior of a woman from
Solo, an attitude much in line with the customs of Javanese
nobility. The song also popularized the stereotype that the ethos
of hard work and the ability to demonstrate resoluteness and
concern were absolutely absent from the women of Solo.

In reality, however, many Solo women face great struggles in
their lives. And many of these women can be found doing jobs most
people consider suitable only for men, or not suitable at all.

Endang, 30, a mother of two from Karanganyar, Solo regency, is
one such woman. Along with dozens of women from her village,
Endang earns a living quarrying sand on Matesih hill, not far
from her home. Every day she treks up and down the 60-meter hill,
covering a length of some 500 meters, to break rocks with a
simple tool so she can collect a layer of sand. Every time she
goes down the hill, she carries a bag of sand weighing about 50
kilograms.

Her small, firm stature and dark skin reflect the bitter
struggles she has faced in life.

Although the women quarrying sand generally weigh less than 50
kilograms, barefooted they trudge up and down the hill about 20
times per day. The 60-meter path up the hill is not straight and
sloping, but rather is narrow, winding, steep and rocky. In the
wet season, this path is slippery, making the bags of sand these
women carry feel even heavier than their 50 kilograms.

The women work from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. with an hour of rest
during their long day. From morning to afternoon they are soaked
in sweat from their toil. To maintain their stamina they drink a
lot of water, about three to four liters a day, and during their
one-hour break they massage one another, an activity which gives
them some entertainment.

On average these women have been doing this work for 15 years.
Generally they chose this work because they wanted to remain
close to their families, and also because they believed the only
requirement for the job was a healthy body.

Endang, the youngest of the women working on the hill, said
she continued working when she was eight-months pregnant.

"I have been doing this job since I graduated from elementary
school. I don't want to work in the city. I cannot leave my
children. No one takes care of them, you know. Besides, my
husband is in the city working at a construction site," she said.

Compared to the standard wages in their village, Endang and
the rest of the women do not earn much. One 50-kg bag of sand is
sold for Rp 200. If these women go up and down the hill twenty
times in a day, they earn Rp 4,000.

Garbage

There are many other women engaged in similarly difficult
work. Some women earn money as scavengers at garbage dumps, while
others work as porters at Pasar Legi.

Mojosongo, the largest garbage dump here, was established in
1985 and occupies 30 hectares of land. Every day some 1,500 tons
of garbage is dumped at this site: rotten vegetables, paper,
plastics, metal goods, leaves and even carcasses. Also, liquid
waste from the solid garbage collects here.

It is easy to imagine the putrid smell of this place, and yet
the reality is much worse. This smell, a host of flies and
mosquitoes, liquid waste which can cause skin irritations and the
intense heat all combine to make this site extremely unhealthy,
making it impossible to remain at the dump for any length of
time.

Nevertheless, a number of women, as well as some men, do spend
some time here each day, scavenging through the garbage to make a
living. Tukiyem, 25, a mother of one from Kampung Jatirejo, for
example, said she had gotten used to the most distasteful
conditions at the dump. The smell, the liquid waste and the
intense heat have never deterred her from picking through the
garbage in order to survive.

"At first, the smell could make my head swim and my stomach
turn, but now it no longer does. Well, of course, I still feel an
itch on my feet if they are exposed to the filthy liquid waste.
Luckily, a doctor from the local health center comes here once a
week and examines us free of charge. This way we are kept from
serious illness," she said.

Tukiyem has more scavenging experience than the other five
women making their rounds. According to her, she began scavenging
in 1985, just after the site was opened. Because she lives
nearby, she can do this work full time.

Armed with baskets, thin iron rods with hooked ends, worn-out
boots and faded conical hats, these women scavenge through the
foul-smelling garbage with great patience, separating valuable
items from worthless ones.

Plastic and cardboard are the most sought after by Sarinah,
one of Tukiyem's fellow scavengers.

"Plastic sells for the most, followed by cardboard. After I
collect the items, I take them to a buyer not far from here.
Plastic garbage sells for Rp 150 per kilogram while cardboard
sells for Rp 100 per kilo. In a day, I can collect some 15
kilograms of plastic garbage and about five kilograms of
cardboard," said Sarinah, 40.

Women porters

Just like the women collecting sand or scavenging at the dump,
women porters at Pasar Legi lead a similarly difficult life,
hauling goods on their backs for short distances. There are some
30 women between the ages of 20 and 40 working as porters at the
market.

Sumirah, 32, from Nayu hamlet, North Solo, has worked here for
a decade. The elementary school dropout and mother of three says
she can carry up to 120 kilos of goods; she weighs less than 50
kilos.

She can do about 10 rounds each day, earning Rp 1,000 every
time she carries goods weighing 100 kilos or more. For goods
weighing less than 100 kilos, she earns Rp 700. For a day that
lasts from 6 a.m. to about 4 p.m., Sumirah earns an average of Rp
10,000.

"To be able to carry goods that weigh a lot, the goods must be
placed in a slanted position and then our body must be bent. In
this way, the weight will be less," she said.

To maintain her strength, Sumirah occasionally drinks
traditional herbal medicine. Besides the herbal medicine, Sumirah
says that she has sex with her husband almost daily, saying this
was her only form of entertainment and also a good way to relieve
her fatigue.

Sumirah and the other women porters took this job because they
had no other options, yet all of the women hope their children
will have brighter futures filled with the opportunities they
never had. Therefore, despite her financial difficulties, Sumirah
wants to give her children the best education possible so they
can do better with their lives.

Endang, Tukiyem, Sumirah and many others toiling in
dispiriting jobs are portraits of "sturdy" and "robust" women.
They are simple and modest enough to accept their lot without
surrendering to fate. They care nothing for the new millennium,
the gender struggle, emancipation and other such things. The
biggest gifts are from God and their greatest happiness is having
enough to eat today. Tomorrow is another day. These women are
strong and sturdy in the real sense of the words.