If there is any field of labour, where the saying that what a man can do, a woman can do much better, it is on the job currently embraced by Mrs. Onyebuchi Arua. She did not only undertake the most difficult job of serving bricklayers, where women are rarely seen, but she is also a bricklayer. Seeing her at a construction site, mixing cement with concrete and sand, with all agility, one can easily mistake her for a man. Irrespective of being a mother of six, she is still very hyperactive and feels rejuvenate.
By Daniel Anokwuru
One of the puzzles of the developing world is that women do some of the hardest labour. The health effects of this, is that their health status, is further diminished by the harsh realities of fatigue. Women, striving for equality in every single type of job do not mean that most women are ready to undertake her kind of job. This is because the job is regarded as dangerous, dirty and unhealthy.
Imagine a mother of six, turning cement and concrete, mixed with sand. It did not stop there. Lifting a heavy head pan, filled with the already mixed materials, climbing up to a three storey building, to deliver to product to bricklayers, through a tiny wooden stair case, can only be done with courage, which is not usually found in a woman.
In an equal society, there are no jobs that are perceived to be only for men, and there are no jobs that are perceived to be only for women. However, the above analysis has drawn the inequality in such job. Equality means that men can comfortably aspire to be nurses and cooks, while women can aspire to be miners and scavengers, and neither will be judged for doing so, or treated like they are too feminine or too masculine for doing a certain type of job.
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Mrs. Arua was sighted at a construction site, in Amaokwu, Amangbala, in Afikpo North Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, recently. She was competing with men, trying to meet up, to finish her already mixed bags of cement. One obvious thing in this profession is that there is no helper to anyone.
All the workers are on their own. They usually focus on their separate job, just to make sure that they delivers as many bags of cement as they can, because payment is based on the number of bags accomplished on a day.
Irrespective of the health advice that physically taxing work condition like prolonged standing and heavy lifting, may increase a woman’s risk of having a problem during pregnancy, Onyebuchi, defied warnings, during her pregnancy days. According to her, she has a lot of problems to solve. She said she want to be a supportive woman to her husband, Mr. Lawrence Arua Eze, who is also a bricklayer. She said, “This is what I have been doing for a living since I got married to my husband. Life is not easy for us. Instead of begging, for help around, I decided to be serving the bricklayers from there, I also learnt how to lay bricks. My husband is also a builder. We normally work together sometimes. I have six children, four boys and two girls, and they are all in school. So, the little money we make, we use it to train them and also for other family needs. The work is not easy for me, but there is nothing I could do. I always feel exhausted after the work. I would have loved to go into trading, but there is no capital to start the trade”.
With her courage, she has become a household name to contractors in her community. If you are searching for the bravest woman in Amamgbala, there is no other person than her.
Another Labourer, Mr Azubuike Igwe, described her as a brave, strong and supportive woman.
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Enginner Uno, who is in charge of the site, said he never, knew that a woman can do such a difficult job. He said he was astonished, when Arua came to plead to be allowed to work with the men in mixing cement. Uno stressed that he was skeptical at first, not until the men at the site started greeting her and acknowledged that she should be allowed to work with them. Saying, “I was surprised when she came here. She was with her shovel and head pan. I thought maybe she brought it for someone, not until when she approached me that she wants to work at the site. I looked around, there was no grass to clear, and I would have given her the job. But she insisted that she wants to mix cement. She is very agile, she lifts her head pan, filled with cement herself. I was thinking that she could not finish one bag on a day, but I was wrong, as she performed more than some of the men. In fact, if I pay the men N 400, I would pay her N 500, because you rarely see women doing this kind of job. This work is all about speed, because you will be fast to accomplish as much bags of cement as you can, or else you would go home with nothing”.
Mrs. Arua , disclosed that she can go as far as another state to work, if need be. She maintained that all she cares for is putting food on their table and taking care of their children. “There are times they normally take us to a far place. I am well known in the community when you ask of woman bricklayer. If God give us good health, and we train all our children that means I have accomplished my aim.
One good thing about Mr. and Mrs. Arua, is that being in the same profession and battling together to make ends meet, has shaped their marriage and united their love for each other more stronger.
