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Photo: OxfamAUS

24 hours in my shoes

English / Bahasa

Halo!

Hi my name is Sewani and this is a blog about my life as a 24-year-old factory worker in Indonesia. I work 6 days a week at a factory producing shoes for a famous international sportswear brand.

I want to share my story with you so at least you can get some picture of the women and men who make your shoes and what our lives are like. I’m sure our situation is quite different with that of those of you who can afford to buy the shoes that we produce. Who knows? When you hear our stories, maybe you will help us voice our concerns. We also want to improve the conditions that we live in.

24 hours in my shoes

Each day I usually wake at dawn (before 5am) to say my morning prayers, wash and buy ingredients to prepare breakfast. We usually eat rice, tempe, curried spinach and spicy sambal sauce. After breakfast I leave the house at 6.15 am. I catch a minibus (angkot) and arrive at the factory by 7am.

I work from 7am to 4pm, with a one hour break for lunch. Lunch is also a chance to rest and say our mid-day prayers (sholat). I try to stay inside for the much break, because eating out wastes too much money!

Unless I have to work overtime, when I finish work I do some grocery shopping then head home. After work my body is fairly tired— even more so if I’ve worked overtime. At the end of the day, often my back, shoulders and feet really ache so I have to use lots of massage.

When I arrive home I’d love to just take a shower, flop down and rest, but instead I have to clean the house and often prepare dinner since my mother often returns home quite late. By the time I get to bed it’s usually after 10pm. I work five to six days a week plus overtime.

When I have free time…

In my free time I usually go out with my boyfriend. But that’s not all that often really. Usually he comes to my house and we just chat at home. If he has money, he invites me to eat out; we eat meat ball soup or noodles. Actually he doesn’t really like watching films, so we don’t go to the cinema. Sometimes I get together with friends, not for any special occasion, just to chat.

Read more about my life story to date.

Help footwear workers voice our concerns: support workers’ rights.

Ask Sewani…

Sewani is happy to answer your questions about her experiences of life from the factory floor. But please remember Sewani often works long hours and doesn’t have much free time so she may take a few days to respond.

Related Indonesian- Bahasa Indonesia

24 jam dalam sepatu saya

Halo!
Nama saya Sewani dan blog ini berkisah tentang kehidupan saya sebagai buruh berumur 24 tahun yang bekerja di pabrik di Indonesia. Saya bekerja 6 hari seminggu dalam sebuah pabrik yang memproduksi sepatu untuk merk pakaian olahraga yang terkenal di seluruh dunia.

Saya ingin berbagi cerita saya supaya ya, setidaknya orang-orang punya gambaran, siapa buruh yang membuat sepatu mereka, dan bagaimana hidup kami. Pasti sangat berbeda kondisi kami dengan mereka yang sanggup membeli sepatu buatan kami. Siapa tahu, dengan mengetahui kondisi kami, mereka bisa bersuara bagi kami. Kami juga ingin hidup dalam kondisi yang lebih baik.

Kehidupan saya dalam 24 jam

Setiap hari saya bangun pagi-pagi (biasanya sebelum jam 5), sholat subuh, mandi dan belanja untuk makan pagi. Biasanya kami makan nasi, tempe, sayur bayam dan sambal. Saya berangkat dari rumah jam 6.15, naik angkot dan masuk pabrik jam 7.

Saya bekerja dari jam 7 sampai jam 4 dengan diselingi 1 jam istirahat. Saya istirahat di dalam pabrik, biasanya sholat dan tidur. Saya biasanya makan di dalam, karena kalau mau di luar harus pakai uang sendiri!

Kalau tidak harus lembur, saya belanja, terus pulang ke rumah. Pulang naik angkot biasanya makan waktu setengah jam sampai satu jam, tergantung macet tidaknya. Sepulang dari pekerjaan, saya capai- apalagi kalau lembur. Capainya di pinggung, kaki, ya harus dipijatin terus.

Kalau saya pulang kerja penginnya langsung mandi, istirahat, tidur, tetapi saya harus masak dan beres-beres di rumah, karena Ibu saya pulang dari kerja agak malam. Biasanya jam 10 saya baru bisa istirahat, tidur. Saya bekerja seperti ini 5-6 hari seminggu, terkadang lebih lama kalau ada lembur.

Waktu libur ngapain?

Biasanya jalan-jalan dengan pacar. Tapi itu juga jarang. Biasanya dia datang ke rumah dan kami ngobrol di rumah saja. Kalau ada uang, dia mengajak saya makan di luar, makan bakso atau mie. Kebetulan dia tidak suka menonton film, jadi kami tidak ke bioskop. Kadang-kadang saya berkumpul dengan kawan-kawan, tidak ada acara khusus, hanya ngobrol, kadang-kadang sambil ngerujak.

Sebelum dijadikan buruh tetap, saya harus ikut percobaan selama 3 bulan. Masa percobaan susah, tekanannya sangat tinggi. Dalam kondisi sakitpun kita harus masuk. Atasan, kalau di pabrik saya, tidak melakukan sistem training yang seharusnya. Mereka tidak terlalu mengikuti aturan, kalau ada saudaranya, walaupun kerjanya kurang bagus, diangkat. Seperti itu. Jadi saya merasa sangat senang ketika sudah lulus dari masa percobaan 3 bulan itu dan diterima sebagai buruh tetap.

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