DAR ES SALAAM (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Shouting above the din of a
concrete mixer, 25-year-old civil engineer Angela James says she is unfazed
about being the only woman technician working at a busy construction site in
the Tanzanian capital.
"I am a trained civil engineer,
so you should expect to see me working
in the field," she said. "It doesn't matter who I'm working with, as
long as my job is done perfectly."
The graduate engineer from the University of Dar es Salaam has over the past
two years been gaining practical experience as she works towards her final
professional qualification.
"Some people don't believe that a woman can work in this field, but I
have proved them wrong," she said.
Dressed in a shiny yellow safety jacket and a hard hat, James mingles with
the casual laborers while giving instructions on the construction of the
wedge-shaped, five-storey building that will house offices and apartments in the
Dar es Salaam suburb.
"I have to ensure that all the technical standards are met. There's no
margin of error," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
James is one of almost 300 female trainees participating in the women-only
Structured Engineers Apprenticeship Programme (SEAP) which aims to equip them
with knowledge and experience to become professional engineers in a male
dominated field.
Although the first female engineers in Tanzania graduated in 1976, official
statistics show that by 2009 only four percent of all registered engineers in
the east African country were women.
But under the SEAP program, implemented by the Engineering Registration
Board, Tanzania's professional body, with funding from the Norwegian
government, the number of female engineers in Tanzania has more than doubled
since 2010, said ERB officials.
INSPIRATION
Few girls complete secondary education in Tanzania due to widespread poverty
and the perception among parents that girls should carry out domestic duties.
If they are in school, girls have received little encouragement to pursue
mathematics and science subjects, often considered the domain of male students.
According to Zuhura Said of Temesa — the government agency dealing with
electrical, engineering and mechanical services - more women engineers would
inspire young girls to study mathematics and sciences and take up the
profession themselves.
"Female trainees will become mentors for young engineers and some of
them will take leadership positions," she said.
Over five years, the Norwegian government has provided 13.9 million
Norwegian crowns ($1.65 million) in funds to support trainee female engineers,
mostly in the form of a monthly living allowance and training for mentors.
"This program ... aims to bring gender balance in professional training
and to empower women engineers to manage their responsibilities," said
Monica Blaalid, a consultant at the Norwegian Embassy in Dar es Salaam.
Benedict Mukama, ERB's Assistant Registrar, said the program had enrolled
291 women, of whom 143 have already been registered as professional engineers.
The trainees who have received Norwegian funding had a completion rate of 86
percent, compared to 20 percent for the candidates who had to pay their own
way, ERB data shows.
"The Norwegian funding has brought a new spirit - the number of female
applicants has increased and more people see the importance of
registering," Mukama said by email.
According to ERB, many of the female engineers have secured jobs in the
field even before they finished their training stints, and some have started
their own businesses.
"I have several job offers waiting, but I haven't made the decision yet
on which company I will be taking," James said.
(Editing by Ros Russell; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the
charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's
rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change. Visit www.trust.org)
source : af.reuters.com
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