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The 'lengkuas' cleaners of Gunung Putri
A personal moment: Kesih enjoys her lunch break
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A personal moment: Kesih enjoys her lunch break.
Despite their advanced age, a number of women living in Gunung Putri district in Bogor, West Java continue to make a living cleaning freshly harvested lengkuas or galingale.
They cut lengkuas into pieces to allow for the easy removal of soil and then chop off the numerous thin roots and young shoots of the tubers.
Lengkuas is a tuberous plant that grows in highlands as well as lowlands. It is generally used to flavor food and as an herbal drug for traditional healing. It has various health-promoting properties, like ginger and turmeric, but the tubers can be distinguished by their distinctive aromas.
Every morning, up to 10 housewives and several men tasked with cutting galingale leaves, pulling up the tubers, cleaning and washing them, are transported by an open-back truck to the plantation ready for harvesting.
From morning to midday, the old women clean 50 to 100 kilograms per person, receiving Rp 250 (2 US cents) per kg. They have their own broad woven-bamboo hats and umbrellas, gloves, knives and bring along some food and drink.
For Esi, 80, her age doesn't prevent her from working. The woman, with 30 grandchildren and great grandchildren, remains vigorous and is capable of cleaning 70 to 100 kg daily. 'I began working as a youngster when the pay was only Rp 25 per kg, now it's Rp 250,' she says.
Saana, 65, has been cleaning lengkuas for a year. She previously lived in Kampung Pulo in Jatinegara, East Jakarta, which is frequently hit by floods due to the overflowing Ciliwung River in Bogor.
Frustrated by the floods, she returned to her home village in Gunung Putri to work alongside the other women.
'Yeah, it's not so bad even if I can just clean 30 to 50 kg of lengkuas. I'm not that agile, unlike my older peers, who work very fast,' said Saana.
The women work quietly, with occasional laughs when amusing stories are told. At noon, hundreds of kilograms of cleaned lengkuas are gathered. Men place them into sacks for weighing and jot down a pay list before the lengkuas are heaped onto the truck for further washing.
Notwithstanding their age, the lengkuas cleaners still have the guts to climb onto the open-back truck and sit on the piles of sacks before they are driven home.
' Text and photos by JP/P.J. Leo
