While farming is the main occupation in this village, people still search for some extra income as they can by honing a new trade like carpentry, selling a special food, or opening a small repair shop for motorcycles, but this options are far and few between, thus creating a scenario fitting for a large companies to come in and employ large numbers of villagers. In this case gravel is needed for construction jobs around Indonesia, and labor is needed to extract the rocks and make the gravel. Thus many of the men from the villagers are employed to swing large hammers in the rocky hills pictured below and women often spend days making those large rocks into gravel, all for minimal wages.
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| The best I can do for a panoramic view - sorry. Here you can see where the trucks drive in and out, and if you look closely you can even spot a couple of them in the distance. |
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| Look closely in both these pictures to see the men working near the base of these hills. |
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| Where forests once densely populated the countryside, these hills have been split open to get some of the natural resources necessary for improving the country's poor infrastructure. This land is owned by a mango farmer and currently being rented by the rock company for five years, after which it will be returned to the farmer. What will be left after they've finished taking the rocks or what can the land be used for later? We'll wait and see.... |
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| With work options limited, these men are likely happy to work here for $7-$12/day. Their income depends on how much rock they're able to extract in a day. Once the rock company is done here, they'll likely be looking for jobs again. |
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| While the men are working to get the big rocks from the nearby hills, these women go to work making the gravel just a few meters away. Here they've even constructed a make-shift tent to keep the sun off during the hot afternoons. |
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| While some work a few meters away from the "rock hill," the sound of hammer hitting rock can be heard throughout the village as many women make gravel in front of their homes, like the women pictured left. They are also paid based on how much gravel they can make. One basket of gravel, as pictured above, is worth about 30cents, and some can fill about 10 baskets a day, coming to around $3/day. |
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| These women are busy at work while their children or grandchildren watch on. |
