his paper is a case study that describes the impact on small enterprises in an earthquake-prone area after a catastrophic earthquake hit the area in May 2006. Kasongan is a small village near Yogyakarta, Indonesia that specializes in pottery and consists of small, family-owned enterprises that produce pottery for the domestic and export markets. This article highlights the importance of gender as a crucial aspect in the recovery process of small enterprises in disaster-affected regions and argues that by ignoring this important factor it can significantly affected the success of the recovery process. The pottery-making skills of the inhabitants of Kasongan have developed through generations and have gender-specific tasks. The earthquake that destroyed the hundreds of houses in Kasongan therefore not only affected the women in their traditional role as mothers, wives and homemakers but also those managing businesses in the pottery industries as well. This analysis examines the role, access, and control of women in the full recovery process - planning, implementation, and aid distribution. Traditionally, women had not played a leading role in public affairs in Kasongan but the seriousness of the earthquake affected all aspects of women’s lives – whether rebuilding their homes or restarting their businesses. This study concludes that not enough was done to include women in the recovery process and recommends the gender role of recovery should be use as a local wisdom approach and will an explicit part of future programs development.

KEYWORDS: Women in development, disaster recovery programs, women and small enterprises, Indonesian development