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Women throw down the gauntlet

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Published on Saturday, 02 June 2007 07:37

Sibia Kerubo, 30, says she took up stone chipping at Rangenyo Quarry in Nyamira district in 2000 to supplement her husband's income. They work some three kilometres from Nyamira town, on the Nyamira-Senta-Kisumu road. The business, she says, has enabled them to provide for their seven children. "Chipping stones might appear an arduous task for a woman but once you get used to it, it is like any other informal venture. After all, nothing good comes easy," she explains with a chuckle.

Kerubo, however, adds that she has to take three breaks daily to return home and prepare food for the family. In addition, she has to find enough time to do her domestic chores. For Naomi Moraa, 23, who ventured into the trade in 2000, stone chipping provided a way out from her small and unproductive strip of land.

"Our piece of land is not productive yet I have to fend for my two children. I opted for this trade and I am happy that I can at least put some food on the table." "Moraa dropped out of school in Standard Seven to get married but things did not turn out as she had expected. "Life became unbearable and that is how my husband and I found ourselves in this trade," she says.

For 15-year-old Faith Kerubo, chipping stones was her only way out after dropping out of school in Standard Six due to lack of school fees. "After staying at home for some time, I found the going tough without any money of my own. I was approaching adolescence and I needed money to buy some personal things," Kerubo explains. Besides, it was the only job readily available for an unskilled youth like her.

"I have got used to the work although I might one day switch to selling second-hand clothes," she said, adding that she is unlikely to go back to school. "I cannot concentrate in class because I have been out of school for too long, she says.

Kerubo says she cannot compete favourably with other women. "I cannot fill the standard container we use in a day," she says.And Mercy Bochaberi, a 50-year-old mother of four, joined the business in 1995 to enable her to care for her children after her husband's death. "I had learnt the job from my husband so when I found myself financially hard-pressed after his death, I decided to venture into the trade to make ends meet," she says. Bochaberi says the current free education system has relieved her financial burden, leaving her enough money to seek treatment for the injuries she suffers at work.

Armed with hammers and mallets, the women begin work early – some at 5am – and remain at it until late evening, irrespective of the weather. Further, some men still believe that breaking stones is a man's job and frequently make disparaging remarks against the women.
To reach their target, the women are sometimes forced to mobilise other family members. According to the women, it takes about a month to make enough chippings to fill an eight-tonne lorry, for which they are paid a paltry Sh2,500. At times, they have problems getting buyers for the gravel. This, the women say, is their main challenge. But they are determined to soldier on because most of them have small parcels of land that can hardly support their families. Some men, however, view stone-chipping as unsuitable for women. They claim the women do not chip the stones properly, making them difficult to sell.

Juma Biba, 25, and single, is a case in point. "This work is only suitable for men, and not just any of man at that. Women should find an alternative trade," he asserts. When he marries, he says, he will not allow his wife to break stones. "She can only do the lighter work like putting together what I have done and ensuring that there is enough porridge for me when I am on duty," he says. But John Abincha, 20, disagrees, arguing that life sometimes forces people to do what they did not intend to do. "Life must continue irrespective of the drawbacks," he says. He would, however, like the government to support the traders "to enable us to move ahead".