Women here are hard-core; they pull water from the wells (which I do for myself because it's fun/hard/a good place to chat with women) and then carry it on their heads home. I do not carry it on my head because-oh my god-do you know how heavy a bucket of water is? It's got to be 200 lbs or something; I swear I'd do it if I could, but I simply can't. Instead, I carry my buckets by hand, and as a result, instead of looking really, cool and strong and straight-backed, I look really spill-y, and waddle-y and wet. Sigh.
Women also give birth to 5+ children, walk for miles to get firewood to burn to cook 2+ meals a day, and still find the time to laugh and joke and welcome weakling girls into the fold with open arms and exclamations of gratitude. It's remarkable.