Ladies get all the hard work at Bongan Kaja Bali

Construction in Bali is going ahead at a rapid pace, often without much thought or planning. Many of the people who do the physical work are women. This is the case in many Asian countries and seems strange to a westerner. Today I passed a 2-storey place that was being built next to the road in Bongan Kaja. Three Balinese ladies, wrapped up to protect against the sun, worked a large sieve, 2 rocking the thing and 1 shoveling dirt into it. Its a primitive process and I have to hand it to them, they always do this kind of work with a smile on their face.

I have done unrewarding work like this before in a western environment. I have usually found that the work environment makes the work worse. You know what its like, the thought of hours of back breaking toil and an asshole boss, you just want to smack him with a shovel. Nobody is smiling. Out here its different, largely I think, because the western idea of doing everything on a fast time line doesn’t exist here, or maybe having a boss all over you isn’t part of the Balinese way. Whatever, they were cheery and stopped to check out the photos. Up above the guys who were placing bricks on the second level waved and gestured for me to take their photo. A nice group of people.