The following story from Zambia is an extract from the booklet 'Women in the Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Industry."
STORY BY YOLANDA DEMBEDZA
It is not always easy or even possible for a woman to choose a career in a male-dominated weld. One thing I have learnt is never to underestimate yourself; you can be who you want to be as long as you stay positive because the sky is the limit.
My name is Yolanda Dembedza, and I am a Class One refrigeration and air-conditioning technician. Becoming an HVAC (heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and refrigeration) technician was the greatest decision I have made in my life. The fact that the industry was growing and needed more refrigeration and air-conditioning technicians motivated me to choose the trade as a great career. If you look around, everything needs to be refrigerated. Buildings, ships, planes, refrigerated trucks and almost every modern car have air-conditioners. All this inspired me to join the trade because it was broad, meaning more job opportunities. Another thing is that after training you can work on your own, starting your own business.
I did apprenticeship training for four years. This involved one year of theory training and three years’ practice. In my first year I went to Bulawayo Polytechnic for the theory. At college I got to know the principles and basis of refrigeration. College work was not a challenge, though engineering drawing was a bit difficult for me. Fortunately, I was the best student, with five distinctions and five credits. On graduation day I was awarded the best-student certificate and the national certificate.
I also attended the training course on safe use of hydrocarbon refrigerants and environmentally friendly practices held at Kwekwe Polytechnic by the National Ozone Unit. For the other three years after college I was on attachment at Frigquip Refrigeration in Kwekwe. The practical training was more hands-on, doing work in the field, working directly with customers and systems. Most of the duties were troubleshooting, making mechanical and electrical repairs, and maintenance and installation of refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment. I learnt the necessary skills to work with domestic, commercial, and industrial systems. On completion of the attachment I was trade tested for Class One journeyman and I did well.
As a woman working in an exclusively male environment, I have faced gender-related challenges. These include sexual harassment from teachers, supervisors, and classmates. Some of my male workmates see me as intimidating; they undermine my potential, looking down on me as a woman and saying it’s a man’s job.
The trade is physically demanding; a man’s strength is needed to lift some equipment. It was difficult for me to lift heavy materials without men’s assistance. I am scared of heights and so installing air-conditioners in tall buildings was also a challenge for me. The other thing is female dressing versus working conditions. Once you join the trade there is no more female dressing in the workplace. At work I dressed like a man for the sake of safety: work suit and safety shoes to avoid injuries. In one incident, the gas exploded while I was working on a fridge and I had burns on my face and hands. The work schedule was also a challenge; sometimes I had to work on weekends. In the summer season, because of the pressure, I would finish work late in the evening, thus making it difficult for me as a woman to perform other duties at home.
At times I might meet customers who would not want me to repair their refrigerators or air-conditioners until I could prove that I could do better than men. Social views and attitudes at first affected me because some people had no faith in me as a woman doing a man’s job. To be an expert it takes time: the trade requires a lot of on-the-job experience. Hard work and dedication really pays off because the work experience I had has made it easier for me to scale new heights in my career. The time I spent being an apprentice was a valuable experience since it gave me the opportunity to think through problems and solve them. New situations with different challenges kept me busy and eager to learn new things every day, using both my hands and my head to do good work.
Because of the country’s economic problems, I haven’t got a full-time permanent job. At the moment I am working on my own responding to customers by appointment and in their homes, doing services and repairs. In a nutshell, refrigeration and air-conditioning is one of the best fields for women who want to pursue a career in industry. If you are mechanically inclined, energetic, and competent, the career is very exciting. The most important thing is to work hard because the more dedicated you are as a woman technician the more respect, knowledge, experience and income you will gain.
