Bangalore: Twenty-six-year-old Malliga is a construction labourer. Her husband left her two years ago and she's now the sole breadwinner for her two children.
She struggles to make ends meet and labour work fetches her just Rs 60 per day.
"The money I earn per day is just not enough to keep my family together," says she.
Like Malliga, thirty-year-old Rani has to earn for her four sons.
It's a daily grind to ensure two meals for her family. But these two brave women have finally found a ray of hope in Werner Dahlmanns.
For 58-year-old Werner Dahlmanns, it's a labour of love.
A German national and a philanthropist, Dahlmanns arrived in Bangalore on January 12 and has been working hard at the goal he has set for himself.
He hasn't come here to clinch deals with the captains of the IT industry. He is hoping to set right the disparity he has found in Bangalore.
"In India construction work is done mostly by men. I would like to help women to do it," says he.
Dahlmanns is a qualified psychologist. He learnt the art of masonry to pay his college fees through masonry works.
He works as a volunteer with an NGO and it was through them that he came to India.
Despite women having broken the barriers of gender in many fields, there are certain areas that are still seen as sacrosanct male domains.
Masonry is one such area of work, which is considered to be a skilled, male job.
However, with Dahlmanns' help, women labourers in Bangalore are about to change that.
Dahlmanns is not just helping women like Malliga and Tani rebuild their lives, brick by brick, but also showing them the way forward, breaking gender barriers along the way.
This is not just another brick in the wall. It's a labour of love whose foundation is very strong indeed.
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