WITNESS: Rock-steady women build Africa's villas

Siphiwe Sibeko, 35, is mostly a self taught photographer who was born and grew up in Soweto township, South Africa. After working for some leading South African newspapers as a senior photographer, he joined Reuters in 2005. Julien Pretot, 31, is a Paris-based sports reporter since 2001. Both paired up for the African Nations Cup in Ghana. In the following story, Julien describes the women construction workers he and Siphiew befriended as they passed them on their way to the Essipon stadium in Sekondi.

By Julien Pretot

SEKONDI, Ghana (Reuters) - Standing in scorching heat, Mansa waits for the stone breakers to fill a large metal bowl with more than 30 kg (66 lb) of stones and places it on her head.

She carries it about 100 meters, climbs two flights of stairs of a house under construction, empties her bowl and walks back for more stones -- used to build new villas along Ghana's Gulf of Guinea coastline.

Mansa, a frail 23-year-old, repeats her short but arduous journey time and time again, from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., six days a week. Sundays are for church.

I first saw her with photographer Siphiwe Sibeko when we were on our way to the Essipon stadium, covering the African Nations Cup in Ghana. Coming from Paris, I was stunned to see such a fragile woman doing this kind of work.

Some colleagues say such sights are common in Africa but Siphiwe, a 35-year-old South African photographer who has worked in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Sudan and Malawi, could not understand why only women were assigned to this task.

"I wanted to take the picture because it was something that showed the strength of women. And they were looking after their kids in the meantime, it was amazing," he told me.

Mansa could earn 2.5 Ghana cedis (about $2.5) a day but prefers to receive a monthly salary of 120 cedis -- less than one-eighth the average civil servant's pay, and rarely enough for lunch. "We're hungry," she said.