Not Every Job is a Gift

The view Rosemary describes in this article, something she sees from the balcony of where she is staying.

I know she is a woman and I know she’s right handed. I don’t know her age. She could be a young, unmarried 20-something woman or a 35-year-old mother. Sadly, she might even be a 50 year old grandmother. Hard to tell when all you see is the back of her body and one arm in motion.

Before the full morning light, I looked out my window and she was sitting on the top of the bricks. Now the sun is about to set and she is still in that same position. Squatting and swinging. The only difference is that much of her body is covered by the rising mound of bricks around her.

Her job, along with the two men in front of her and the one woman behind her, is to manually remove all the mortar from the old bricks. She has to carefully pound the brick without compromising its integrity.

As she taps, taps, taps the hammer over the surface of the brick, the rat-tat-tat of the excavator behind her is collecting more and more old bricks for tomorrow’s work day. Modern technology and centuries old, pre-industrial age manual work fill the same space.

I watched for a while, hoping to get a glimpse of her face as she stood up and left the pile of bricks behind. The only break I see her take is when she transfers the hammer to her left hand, only to return it to her dominant hand after just a minute or two.

Three bricks to her one. That is the difference in production between her and the man. I am hopefully imagining that he is telling her “don’t get hurt, pace yourself, I will make up for any lack on your part.” I’m hoping…

I saw the owner of the property—or at least a man with shiny shoes and well-fitting clothes who looked to be ‘somebody.’ Hands in pocket, he leans over to examine her work. She keeps her head down while steadily dropping the head of the hammer on the crumbling mortar. Neither speak.

Rosemary Sherrod, pictured center, is instrumental to our work in India. She is currently on the ground, training cooperatives and employees, teaching the Bible, and helping further our goals for G.O.D. India.

I realize that not everyone will have a 9 to 5 office job. We can’t eliminate manual labor from our world—nor should we. “Pick up your mat and walk.” Regardless of the kind of work a person does or chooses, it should be humanizing and dignifying. We have been talking about lifting up woman through education, advocacy and empowerment. We have to create opportunities for woman to have work that acknowledges their physicality, their stage of life, their responsibility to family, and their value to society! We did this by making job creation one of our goals. Mahima, Rose, Sneha, and Iada all have stories that tell about work that uplifts. They know that women can have jobs that allow them to develop competencies and give them responsibilities commensurate with their skills. And without discrimination, they can have an authorized voice.

Rose and Iada have written in the upcoming Global Voice about how they have been lifted up since they joined GOD. I can’t wait for you to hear from them so you, too, can thank God for what he is doing here in India—in the hearts and lives of these women who recognize the gift of God that is found the kind of job they have.

Iada writes: “I am so Thankful to G.O.D Team International to have this one vision on “ JOB CREATION” as it really gave me the opportunity to start working again.I feel so blessed to be part of G.O.D India team as I get to work with people who love God so much and would walk a mile to help others. Now ,I not only get a place to work but also I get to have a family that cares and understand , Friends that love and built me up but above all I get to serve God , hear His word everyday and go deeper on building up relationships as well as do what He wants me to do ..To be selfless and serve others.”