Feature: Nepalese women trading kitchen life for construction life

After nearly two months since the massive earthquake struck in this small South Asian nation, the relief works are almost finished, paving the way for the nation's reconstruction.

At a time when monsoons, a lack of equipment to demolish buildings, a lack of manpower and a lack of financial aid are challenging the reconstruction process, some strong Nepalese women have volunteered to support the reconstruction process.

The Nepalese society is often driven by patriarchal beliefs and traditional practices in one way or another, where women are regarded as weak and only capable of handling household chores.

However, in the aftermath of the deadly disaster that took the lives of more than 8,700 people in which 55 percent of the casualties were women and children, a few Nepalese women have been proving their potentialities by carrying out reconstruction work to the same level as men.

Such a paradigm shift can be seen at the world heritage site Swoyambhunath, located in the capital; where around 50 women aged between 20-50 years old, are working tirelessly as menial laborers to clean up the debris.

One of the examples is Ramila Ghatani, a resident of Swoyambhu who has now given up her homemaking duties to become a construction worker and has been working as such over the past month.

This 39-year-old woman has a small, beautiful family comprising a husband and three kids. But the earthquake severely disrupted her life and happiness, rendering her family homeless and forcing them to live under tents.

These days, her kitchen utensils are nowhere in sight, only broken bricks, wood and debris, which she needs to carry on her back for the whole day in a woven conical basket made from strips of bamboo, called "doko."

Dressed in a simple and muddy Kurtha-salwaar, she looked exhausted as sweat flows from her forehead but she said that hard physical work is nothing compared to her determination.

"My duty is to collect the debris from the collapsed temples and building structures in the religious complex and unload it in the parking space by carrying it on my back. I am happy to work, this job is my livelihood," Ghatani told Xinhua.

The challenge for Ghatani is that the debris is at the top of a hill and they need to walk up more than 100 stairs with a heavy load on her back.

The site has two access points to the main platform of the temple, one is through a stairway with more than 100 steps on the southern side and another is further away with 365 steps on the eastern side.

Around 50 female laborers have been working at the site since last one month. They are paid from 600 Nepalese rupees to 1,000 Nepalese rupees (about 5.9-9.8 U.S. dollars) as a wage depending upon their work performance.

Another female homemaker-turned-laborer Junkiri Lama said, "We need to walk up the staircases more than 30 times a day. During the night, my legs and shoulders ache terribly but I need to support my family financially, so I must continue this work."

According to the Federation of Contractors' Association of Nepal, there are an estimated 300,000 construction workers in the Kathmandu valley, but nearly 80 percent left for their homes in the initial days after the quake.

As the demolition drive is about to accelerate in Kathmandu, many women have started to leave the confines of their kitchens and contribute to the reconstruction process, while earning a new means of vital income in this quake-ravaged country.

Ramesh Gurung, a contractor assigned to Swoyambhu for the demolition and debris management by the Federation of Swoyambhu Management and Conservation Committee told Xinhua, "It's very difficult to find laborers these days as most of them left the valley to go to other districts. So, I have given preference to the female labors as they too are capable and can work equally as hard as men." Endi