She does it to support family
By Sri Wahyuni
YOGYAKARTA (JP): Endah Fariana claims any woman can do what she does for a living -- drive an inter-provincial bus for 600 kilometers every day -- though she concedes that not many would want to.
An employee of transportation company PO Raharja, she drives a 50 seater air-conditioned bus from Yogyakarta to Purwokerto, three times a day.
If Endah starts her days work in Yogyakarta, she must spend the night in Purwokerto upon her second arrival in the city. The following day, she sets out for Yogyakarta, returns again to Purwokerto, before finally returning to Yogyakarta for the night.
"There is nothing special about my job. Any other woman can do it," Endah told The Jakarta Post modestly, but she admitted that a female inter-provincial bus driver is quite a rare occurrence.
The 38-year-old mother of four plans to retire as soon as her eldest son completes his studies in engineering at a private Islamic university in Tangerang, West Java. Her younger children still go to the senior and junior high schools in the town of Sumpiuh, where Endah's husband, Subroto, hails from.
Endah and 40-year-old Subroto, also a driver at the same company, work for 15 to 20 days a month, and spend the rest of the time with their family in Sumpiuh. "Those days are very precious because only then can we be close to our children," Endah said.
Fortunately, Sumpiuh is on the route that Endah and Subroto ply daily. Their three school-age children often wait by the road just to wave to their parents as they pass by.
"We enjoy those moments very much," Endah said, adding that if the situation permits, she takes the children to Purwokerto for lunch, some 40 kilometers from Sumpiuh.
"I do it only with the passengers' permission because I drive an (expensive) bus which doesn't allow the driver to pick up any passengers along the route," Endah explained, adding that she enjoys driving an air-conditioned bus because most of her passengers are "educated and good mannered."
It was not easy becoming the only female among the companies 60 drivers. "I try hard to maintain my dignity as a woman, a wife and a mother," she said.
"I've found that our survival within the community depends very much on how we treat people around us. If we show respect to them, they will do the same to us," said Endah referring to her colleagues. "They are as rough as many people would think. Yes, they are high-tempered, but they are basically kind-hearted."
The company conceded that Endah helps attract passengers, but that is not why she was hired.
"She has proved herself to be as qualified as the male drivers. We treat them equally here," company supervisor Yoyok Suwarno said.
Endah agreed. "I refuse to be treated differently just because I'm a woman. Special treatment will only cause jealousy among us, and make things difficult for me," Endah said.
Endah is paid on a commission basis, taking 10 percent of the total daily fares on her bus. During peak seasons, such as school or Idul Fitri holidays, she can earn up to Rp 1 million (US$100) a day. During weekdays, however, she collects less than Rp 100,000 a day.
"That is not much, but I can at least help my husband feed our family," she said, adding that she could not find any other gainful employment, as driving is her only skill.
Dirt
Endah began her career in 1980 driving a truck carrying soil. In 1987, she began to drive large buses for the Jakarta-based transportation company PO Arimbi, plying the Merak to Bandung route in West Java.
In 1991 she drove a tourist bus in Bali for a tour agency. But she did not like being separated from her family and so moved to Yogyakarta in 1992.
Together with her husband, she worked for PO Putra Remaja, a Yogyakarta-based transportation company where she drove a night bus plying the Yogyakarta-Lampung and then Yogyakarta-Jakarta routes.
"Driving a night passenger bus was much too exhausting. I had to work for days on end and sometimes had to take a rest in the bus for just an hour of sleep or so," she said.
The couple then decided to move to PO Raharja in order to have more time with their family.
Born in Jakarta as the eldest of children, Endah now regrets dropping out of high school.
"Had I completed my education, I wouldn't have had to take up this kind of job," she said, adding that she would not let any of her children leave school prematurely.
"I'd like them to have a much better life than that of their parents'," she said.
Endah realizes that she will not always be strong and fit enough for her physically demanding job, so is now preparing a business at home and plans to devote her time entirely to it after she retires.
Last year she began to keep hens, known locally as Bangkok chickens, which are raised as pets, not for meat. She now has about 30 of them, which can sell for up to Rp 400,000 each.
"For the time being, I try to do my job (as a bus driver) as if it's a hobby. That way I doesn't feel it as a burden," Endah said.