Digging trenches for a living: Women in a men’s world
WHEN her husband left home and never returned, Aisha Haruna’s world came tumbling down. “I was pregnant and about to deliver when my husband disappeared. I did not have a job yet I had to feed my three children,†Haruna said.<br>Sixteen years later, Haruna, 40, learnt to cope with the challen
By Eddie Ssejjoba
WHEN her husband left home and never returned, Aisha Haruna’s world came tumbling down. “I was pregnant and about to deliver when my husband disappeared. I did not have a job yet I had to feed my three children,†Haruna said.
Sixteen years later, Haruna, 40, learnt to cope with the challenges of being a single mother by engaging in odd jobs to earn a living.
She is one of the women working as a porter with Prime Contractors Limited, the company resurfacing the Ntinda-Kiwaatule Road.
Wearing a head scarf, a cream blouse and a black-dust coated skirt, Haruna looks tired at about 5.00pm.
Ignoring the cloud of dust raised by motorists and the noise from road machines, Haruna and two younger women are using spades to scoop earth from a trench, throwing it on the roadside.
She has tough palms that reveal the storms she has weathered. With a smile, she gives a brief interview. “I’m not well, I was sick and rested for some days, but I resumed work today because I need the money. I have been feeling dizzy throughout,†she said as she leaned against her spade.
Before Haruna started working as a porter, she used to sell fried cassava at a roadside kiosk in Kibuye, a Kampala suburb. She was, however, evicted by authorities ahead of the 2007 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
“I needed money to pay fees for my children so that they can get good jobs in future,†she said. It was for this reason that when a construction company advertised casual jobs during CHOGM, Haruna was among the first to apply.
She started working with the company in April 2007.
She digs trenches, loads earth onto trucks, clears bushes and pushes wheelbarrows.
Haruna, who did not go to school, spends much of her income on paying fees for her three children and paying rent of sh30,000 per month. She adds that she is saving money to set up a retail shop.
Haruna’s colleagues, Margaret Nangendo, 25, and Aisha Nassimbwa, 24, have their own stories.
Nangendo has a diploma in Agriculture. She stays in Entebbe and has been working with the company for a month.
She was an extension worker with the National Agricultural Advisory Services in Kiyindi, Mukono District, training farmers how to set up and run demonstration gardens until the programme wound up.
“They offered to renew my contract, but I had to relocate to Kalangala.
“I refused the offer because it is far from home,†she said.
She added: “I have a partner, but I did not want to wait for everything from him, I have my own dreams which I want to achieve.†So she searched for another job.
Nangendo hopes to return to her professional job when the opportunity arises.
Nassimbwa, the third labourer, stays with her parents at Najjanankumbi on Entebbe Road. She is shy and says little about herself. Her introduction to the casual jobs came when her brother, who was working at the site, was falling sick regularly. He could no longer manage the manual jobs and so he urged her to replace him.
“I was surprised to find many women at the site. I thought I would be the only woman among men, but we are happy to work together,†she said.
She said she saves her earnings in a bank every Monday. “I stay with my parents and I do not buy food, my boyfriend also supplements my earnings,†she added. Her target is to save sh800,000 and open a retail shop.
For these women, work starts at 9:00am to 5.00pm six days a week and each is paid sh4,500 daily.
The company transports the workers from their base in Kamwokya to the sites. “We have a lot of work, but we are happy because they give us lunch and the money we get is enough to solve our problems,†Haruna said.
The site engineer, Kironde Ssewanyana said he employs six women including a flag girl on the Ntinda-Kiwaatule site whose construction is scheduled to take five months.
Ssewanyana said he is more comfortable employing women because they are easy to supervise. “Unlike men, these women are hardworking and do not reject tasks assigned to them. They respond quickly and do not give funny excuses,†he said.
He adds that women perform hard tasks that some men cannot handle.
These women labourers are a source of inspiration to fellow women who hitherto took such jobs to be a man’s domain.
WHEN her husband left home and never returned, Aisha Haruna’s world came tumbling down. “I was pregnant and about to deliver when my husband disappeared. I did not have a job yet I had to feed my three children,†Haruna said.
Sixteen years later, Haruna, 40, learnt to cope with the challenges of being a single mother by engaging in odd jobs to earn a living.
She is one of the women working as a porter with Prime Contractors Limited, the company resurfacing the Ntinda-Kiwaatule Road.
Wearing a head scarf, a cream blouse and a black-dust coated skirt, Haruna looks tired at about 5.00pm.
Ignoring the cloud of dust raised by motorists and the noise from road machines, Haruna and two younger women are using spades to scoop earth from a trench, throwing it on the roadside.
She has tough palms that reveal the storms she has weathered. With a smile, she gives a brief interview. “I’m not well, I was sick and rested for some days, but I resumed work today because I need the money. I have been feeling dizzy throughout,†she said as she leaned against her spade.
Before Haruna started working as a porter, she used to sell fried cassava at a roadside kiosk in Kibuye, a Kampala suburb. She was, however, evicted by authorities ahead of the 2007 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
“I needed money to pay fees for my children so that they can get good jobs in future,†she said. It was for this reason that when a construction company advertised casual jobs during CHOGM, Haruna was among the first to apply.
She started working with the company in April 2007.
She digs trenches, loads earth onto trucks, clears bushes and pushes wheelbarrows.
Haruna, who did not go to school, spends much of her income on paying fees for her three children and paying rent of sh30,000 per month. She adds that she is saving money to set up a retail shop.
Haruna’s colleagues, Margaret Nangendo, 25, and Aisha Nassimbwa, 24, have their own stories.
Nangendo has a diploma in Agriculture. She stays in Entebbe and has been working with the company for a month.
She was an extension worker with the National Agricultural Advisory Services in Kiyindi, Mukono District, training farmers how to set up and run demonstration gardens until the programme wound up.
“They offered to renew my contract, but I had to relocate to Kalangala.
“I refused the offer because it is far from home,†she said.
She added: “I have a partner, but I did not want to wait for everything from him, I have my own dreams which I want to achieve.†So she searched for another job.
Nangendo hopes to return to her professional job when the opportunity arises.
Nassimbwa, the third labourer, stays with her parents at Najjanankumbi on Entebbe Road. She is shy and says little about herself. Her introduction to the casual jobs came when her brother, who was working at the site, was falling sick regularly. He could no longer manage the manual jobs and so he urged her to replace him.
“I was surprised to find many women at the site. I thought I would be the only woman among men, but we are happy to work together,†she said.
She said she saves her earnings in a bank every Monday. “I stay with my parents and I do not buy food, my boyfriend also supplements my earnings,†she added. Her target is to save sh800,000 and open a retail shop.
For these women, work starts at 9:00am to 5.00pm six days a week and each is paid sh4,500 daily.
The company transports the workers from their base in Kamwokya to the sites. “We have a lot of work, but we are happy because they give us lunch and the money we get is enough to solve our problems,†Haruna said.
The site engineer, Kironde Ssewanyana said he employs six women including a flag girl on the Ntinda-Kiwaatule site whose construction is scheduled to take five months.
Ssewanyana said he is more comfortable employing women because they are easy to supervise. “Unlike men, these women are hardworking and do not reject tasks assigned to them. They respond quickly and do not give funny excuses,†he said.
He adds that women perform hard tasks that some men cannot handle.
These women labourers are a source of inspiration to fellow women who hitherto took such jobs to be a man’s domain.