They Refuse to Give Up

Kompas/Ferganata Indra Riatmoko

Female workers carrying sugarcane seeds in Balecatur village, Gamping, Sleman, Yogyakarta, Wednesday (6/12/2017).

Kasiyem, 56, started her activities at 2 a.m. After cleaning up the house and providing breakfast for her husband, she hurried to the market, shopping for various vegetables, fish, tofu, tempeh and fruits. She then sells all of them around a housing complex, some 5 kilometers away from her home in Gang Subur, Kebayoran Lama district, South Jakarta.She finished her selling activities at 1 p.m. From her activities throughout the morning, she can take home between Rp 60,000 (US$3.85) and Rp 70,000. Sometimes, after selling around, she is asked to help to clean the house of other people.

With her earnings, she can buy basic needs for her and her husband, who has been unable to do anything for almost five years because of heart problems. In addition to paying an electricity bill of about Rp 200,000 a month, she also spends another Rp 80,000 to buy gas. Even though her income is not much, she feels lucky because she can use unsold vegetables to meet her own needs.

Also read: Kartini Day Amid Covid-19

Thanks to her hard work, Kasiyem can send her children to school. Two of her four children passed the diploma program and two others have graduated from high school. The children have been able to live independently, but they are busy taking care of their own families. Practically, Kasiyem must be the head of the family because it is impossible to rely on others.

The COVID-19 pandemic did not reduce her activities despite her fear of being infected when she went the market and went around selling her merchandise. She has a face mask but she does not always wear it. She still has many customers, mostly domestic workers, and vegetables are quickly sold as usual. However, since the implementation of large-scale social restrictions (PSBB), one child who works cleaning the mosque has become her responsibility.

KOMPAS/WAWAN H PRABOWO

Limited family economic capacity makes some women have a dual role. Aside from being a housewife who must always be intensely caring for her child, she must also help her husband to meet economic needs, as experienced by a fruit trader on the roadside of Pasar Kebayoran Lama, Jakarta, on Tuesday (07/30/2013).

Never give up

Kasiyem is only one of millions of female heads of households. Official data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS) indicates that almost 16 percent of households are financially supported by women. The founder and chairperson of the foundation for the empowerment of Women Head of Household (PEKKA), Nani Zulminarni, said her own data showed a higher number at 25 percent. This includes married women who have become the main breadwinners. Their husbands often work odd jobs, with uncertain income and some husbands go to other villages but do not say what they did. Some of the women are single and have to take care of parents and relatives.

Women\'s lives in the lower economic strata gas become more difficult during a pandemic.

Women\'s lives in the lower economic strata gas become more difficult during a pandemic. They generally work in the informal sector, sell petty things, become farmers, make handicrafts and work in the service sector.

"The economy of almost all PEKKA members is not moving. There are various restrictions in the village due to COVID-19. The price of agricultural products has fallen because it cannot be marketed. Brokers cut down prices,” said Nani.

PEKKA helps about 65,000 female heads of households throughout Indonesia.

Since two residents in a neighboring village in a different subdistrict were put under patient under surveillance (PDP) status, Santi, 38, has been unable to sell snacks out of the Pasir Konci hamlet, Lemah Makmur village, Tempuran district, Karawang.

KOMPAS/BAHANA PATRIA GUPTA

Women transport workers eat during break time at Surabaya Customs Market, Wednesday (20/4/2016). To help the family economy, women who are mostly from Madura Island become transport workers.

"Village heads and people from a health office forbid me. However, I was told that the people under PDP are negative,” said Santi on Friday (4/17/2020). Santi\'s income has dropped dramatically since schools were closed more than a month ago. She has sold snacks and other foods for 17 years at an elementary school in his village. Now, she earns Rp 70,000 a day from selling in front of her house. She has to support two children and her elderly mother.

Her husband could not help much. The odd jobs he used to do no longer exist. The savings are running out to buy food. The rice consumption has been reduced to just one liter from the usual 1.5 liters per day.

Even though there is an epidemic and physical distancing rules, Santi still wants to sell.

"I will sell around in the upcoming fasting month. I will wear a mask and will ask for it from the health center. The RT [neighborhood head] has already understood, but I can\'t leave the village,” said Santi.

In the village of Lamawara, Lembata, East Nusa Tenggara, Bernadete Deram, 50, can only wait patiently for the outbreak to end. Although originating from Lembata, most of her activities are in Adonara. When she went to Lembata, a regent\'s decree was issued, prohibiting ships to carry passengers to Adonara, except for cargo ships once every two weeks. Bernadete has been stranded in Lembata since March 23.

As facilitators of women household heads in Lembata, Adonara and Alor, Bernadete is responsible for providing the basic needs of women heads of household heads. Since the introduction of large sale social restrictions (PSBB), the price of rice in Waowala and Riang Bao villages, Adonara, has risen from Rp 520,000 per 50 kg to Rp 800,000.

"The price of rice is high, while corn fails to harvest because of the long, dry drought. Some families don\'t harvest corn at all, so it\'s very difficult," said Bernadete, who is single and supports two nephews.

They can also not sell in the market because it has been closed temporarily.

Farming is also not an easy matter. The mothers did not dare cross the neighboring village to the farms because in the neighboring village there are residents who conducted 14 days of independent isolation. They can also not sell in the market because it has been closed temporarily.

In the midst of various difficulties, Bernadete continues to maintain her organic gardening. The results are sent to the mentors.

"We continue to try our best. Hopefully COVID-19 will pass soon," said Bernadete.

KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO

Raden Ajeng Kartini poster painted on the wall of the house on Jalan Halim Perdana Kusuma, Tangerang City, on Sunday (12/4/2020). Kartini is known as a pioneer of women\'s emancipation in Indonesia, especially fighting for the right to education for women. April 21 is celebrated as Kartini Day.

Right target

The government has issued social assistance. However, according to Nani, villages have received less attention.

In fact, the domino effect of the plague and prevention of COVID-19 transmission by the government were also felt in villages even though not all villages had residents infected with COVID-19.

From PEKKA\'s data collection, the worst affected were agriculture and small retail trade. Nani wants the government to record the beneficiaries well so that the social assistance reaches the targeted recipients. Assistance can take many forms, including capital for small traders, marketing assistance for agricultural products and seed assistance for agriculture.

There is also a labor-intensive program in villages to reduce the economic impact of the outbreak.

Village funds (fund allocated by the government for village development) can now be used to cope with the COVID-19 outbreak. There is also a labor-intensive program in villages to reduce the economic impact of the outbreak.

If the discussion on the distribution of funds involves all stakeholders, including women, then the practical and strategic needs of women will be represented. This equality of opportunity was fought by equal rights icon RA Kartini 141 years ago and is still fought until today.