Seated before a pile of steel materials and a cement mixer, construction worker Rohmiati looks every bit as strong as someone who has spent a good year of their life in hard labor.

“You cannot underestimate us. Women are capable of constructing infrastructure,” said the 21-year old during her break at the construction of Pasar Genggelang in quake-hit Indonesia’s Lombok island.

Her sweat-soaked skin glistened under the scorching sun, and the glow served to define her muscles even more. Her seemingly strong physique is a result of her ‘daytime’ job working in the coffee and cocoa plantations near the village.

She is among six women involved in a project that encourages women’s participation in the reconstruction of a central market under UNDP’s Programme for Earthquake and Tsunami Infrastructure Reconstruction Assistance (PETRA) Project.

The Project has been helping women defy stereotypes and develop new skills in construction.

Another female participant in the programme is 50-year old Johan Kuni and she is the main wage earner in her family. Like Rohmiati, she works as a daily laborer in farms near the village and earns IDR 80,000 (approximately USD 0.55) to mow the lawn on the plantation, IDR 40,000 per sack of coffee beans she packs and IDR 20,000 per bucket of cocoa beans picked. She was interested in joining the construction project as she wanted to earn extra money to support her family.

The women have defied the norms in a society that is deeply patriarchal.

In partnership with local CSO Paluma Nusantara in North Lombok, the PETRA project has advocated for the dismantling of stereotypes about the role of women via a community-based reconstruction program which is part of PETRA’s long term Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Plan involving community participation.

Since the planning phase, UNDP has encouraged its partners to strengthen the element of inclusion in all aspects of project implementation to ensure all members of the community have an equal role in voicing their ideas based on their needs.

The head of Genggelang village noted that women in North Lombok have never been involved in construction work, appreciated PETRA’s inclusive engagement. He added that it can be a good practice in the village development program and could be replicated.

Although the project has included women’s participation, there are concerns about the unfair burden women experience with household responsibilities too. Therefore, disseminating information about the segregation of responsibilities at home is one step towards creating a more equal, inclusive environment.

PETRA’s CSO partners have been mindful of the issue of gender-based violence and have informed project supervisors, heads of villages and participants of the programme about possible situations that women may encounter that are considered violations of their rights. They have provided examples of GBV that could occur both at work and in the domestic sphere.

UNDP’s PETRA project, funded by Germany’s development bank, KfW contributes to the rehabilitation and reconstruction of key infrastructure to support the resilient recovery of disaster-affected communities in Central Sulawesi and West Nusa Tenggara. It addresses the need to accelerate the restoration of critical public services, improve economic livelihood opportunities for affected communities while, at the same time, enhancing resilience to future shocks in both provinces.

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Story and photos by: Whisnu Yonar

Edited by Tomi Soetjipto and Ranjit Jose