The following stories from Sri Lanka and Togo are extracts from the booklet 'Women in the Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Industry."
STORY BY PATHMI DAYARATHNE, SRI LANKA
I am Ms Pathmi Priyangani Dayarathne, employed by the Ceylon German Technical Training Institute (CGTTI) as a training instructor in refrigeration and air conditioning (RAC).
After completing my secondary education at a government school, I entered CGTTI to follow a three-and-a-half-year RAC course. I successfully completed my academic career at CGTTI in 2012.
I was offered employment as an instructor in electrical engineering by Wayamba (North-Western) Technical College, Kurunegala. After working at the technical college for four years, in 2016, I moved to CGTTI to take up my present position as RAC instructor.
This is a highly technical profession that is a challenging job for a woman. I am extremely happy to rise to this challenge and my aim is to perform my profession for the wellbeing of the RAC Sector in Sri Lanka.
STORY BY AGBAVOR YAWA MAWULI, TOGO
In 2004 I enrolled at the CRETFP (regional centre for technical education and vocational training) to receive training in refrigeration and air-conditioning (RAC) and two years later obtained my qualification. These two years of training were not easy for me because my family considered this field of work to be only for men. After my training I was fortunate enough to experience first-hand the realities of the RAC sector on the ground in two companies – TTSI and Interdis – based in Togo and run by French managers. Through this employment I was able to obtain a training scholarship in technical maintenance of HVAC installations at the AFPI Rhodanienne in Lyon (France), where I received my certificate (the scholarship was financed by the French Development Agency (AFD)).
After my training, several clients of my former employer were impressed by the quality of my work. I therefore decided to create my own company, Timef, which I had registered in the trade register in Togo on 20 June 2010 so that I could work with companies that were requesting my refrigeration services and, in particular, gain experience lawfully.
Today, I manage Timef’s administration, which includes accounting and secretarial services, and a technical team of nine technicians declared with the tax and social security offices, as well as three trainees.
Timef also accepts interns sent by the national training centres (CRETFP and CFMI in Lomé), and our clients consist of companies and individuals. Under the verifiable tax and VAT systems adopted by my company at the start of the year, we are now able to obtain public contracts.
Considering the competition in the market, I intend to keep promoting the latest techniques in RAC through the professionalism and the quality of services we provide. I would also like to further increase interest in working in RAC among women, who are practically absent from this field and think that this sector is only for men.
