The project aims to empower Buruh Gendong (BG) or women porters in four traditional markets. The women carry shoppers’ goods, load and unload cargo to and from trucks, or transfer items between big traders. They carry between 5kg to more than 100kg over their back and shoulders. The profession is culturally and socially accepted, providing income to hundreds of women who have low education, no skills, and no working experience. Their status however is moving between being visible and non-visible with the modernisation of the traditional markets. Shoppers demand for their labour but neither market management nor labour unions recognise them. As a result, porters are not organised and receive only meager incomes.

The project provides a series of training activity through a new BG Leaders School to enhance their advocacy and leadership skills. These activities empower them to bargain with management to recognise their existence, to demand meeting spaces, and to gain free toilet usage. Training materials also cover gender equality, assertiveness, bargaining strategies, and communications. Modules and methods are designed to be interactive and participatory. Discussion and practice sessions are conducted after each training to ensure effective understanding and learning.

During the project, a detailed and structured schedule of activities is drawn up. The participatnts also form some materials and methods of delivery for Training Module for Women’s Leadership and Advocacy for Carrying Workers by Yasanti’s team and partners. The result is a draft module which will be strengthened by listening to input from Gendong Workers who have attended the School of Womenn’s Leadership and Advocacy for Carrying Worker. There is also a socialization about this Ngangu Kawruh program in four market, one of the market is Giwangan Market, which was attended by 25 workers. The participants engaged and gave some feedbacks when compiling the module about Women’s Leadership and Advocacy Training. 

Leadership training for women workers is carried out systematically, using the curriculum, guides, schedules and teaching materials that have been prepared. The training was attended by 30 participants. Carrying workers were directly involved in the Women’s Leadership Training in the DIY Carrying Workers’ “Ngansu Kawruh” program. In the advocacy training, the participants were invited by the facilitator to get to know the concept of Advocacy, the legal basis, policy advocacy and carrying labor. The introduction to Advocacy is directly adapted to the examples that exist in the reality they fac.  

The results of the Leadership and Advocacy Training show confidence, Dare to speak in public either in front of his friends or other audiences, Dare to talk to the village head, Dare to express opinions to DPRD. Besides that, the awareness to organize is also getting stronger. 

However, there are still perceived weaknesses, namely there are still those who say that they do not dare to speak and the arrangement that has been arranged by themselves is also messy and cannot come out of the mouth, there are still those who feel that they are not so optimal in organizing because sometimes they feel lazy, but weakness The existing ones will continue to be pursued by them and the management in order to find solutions to every problem they face.