Diane Mariechild said, “A woman is the full circle. Within her is the power to create, nurture and transform.” Even before feminists fought for the rights of women to enjoy basic privileges as men especially the right to be meaningfully employed, there were some women whose strength and determination not only allowed them to settle for just being employed, but to be given the same laborious and technical jobs that society deemed most fitting for men. Women were not only fighting for their fellow women to be within the labour force but to access whatever jobs they desire even if it requires carrying a sledge hammer, wearing a helmet and steel toe boots.
In Guyana this transformation became more prevalent with several expatriate companies flooding the mining sector. Women no longer cared about how they may be viewed by their fellow women who preferred stockings and high heels, but how they can earn for their families in a non-traditional way. With the advent of the bauxite company in the mining town of Linden, women were more enthused to pursue vocational skills to be employed in the company so that they too can boast of earning big bucks.
One of these were Dianne Moore who was eager to join the bauxite company which at that time was the Guyana Mining Enterprise Limited (GUYMINE) and to sport her safety glasses, helmet, overalls and steel toe boots. After 3 decades of spending 10 hours per day in the bauxite plant as a mechanic, Dianne posited that she has no regrets. Growing up in a home as the only girl among 3 boys, she learnt from a very early age how to cultivate the strength of a man. After completing her secondary education at the Kara Kara High School in Linden there was no doubt in the teenager’s mind that she wanted to pursue mechanics and so she enrolled in the then GUYMINE Technical Training Complex in 1976 where she successfully graduated as a certified millwright mechanic. “I had a particular brother that I use to be close with and when the time came he said he is going to trade school and I said I am going too and I start going to night classes and I was successful, after graduation, I went right into the bauxite company as an apprentice,” Dianne recalled. At that time, she was surrounded by men but this was not difficult for her as she grew up in a male dominated household. “Working with the men here, you know they would feel that women can’t do certain things but I use to take the sledge hammer and go out, everything that they do I would go and do it, I never backed down, I use to work on the kilns, in the heat, in the water, we use to do alignment on the kilns, anything they do I use to do it, I never backed down,” she boasted adding that her determination and strength caught the attention of her superiors which allowed her to be promoted quickly.

Though the company changed several times over the years, she was never retrenched but continued to be elevated. Currently Dianne Moore is now a Foreman in the mechanics department at the Bosai Minerals Group Guyana (BMGG). Though her main challenge during the years was balancing being a single mother and working for ten hours, she never faltered but continued to be resilient. “I had to put certain things in place, the money was small then but I had to make sure I get a nanny for my son, then I use to have to be leaving work within my lunch break and rushing home to feed him because he was nursing, but it all worked out,” Dianne said while reiterating that she continues to enjoy her job and has no regrets of going down the vocational route as she believes that she was not built for the clerical work. Currently she now enjoys the opportunity of imparting knowledge into the apprentices under her supervision and sees this as a blessing.
Also following the non- traditional path is Mrs. Shurla Brotherson who by profession is an electrician but during her career of 33 years enjoyed both the steel boots and high heels. Currently Brotherson is the Principal (ag) at the Linden Technical Institute after serving as the first female Deputy Principal at that institution since 2012. Mrs. Brotherson reminiscing on the day she stepped into the Government Technical Institute to commence her electrician course and how such a move moulded her into being the rounded and strong willed person she is today. The teenager was motivated to take up a vocational path after hearing of many persons being retrenched from Government offices in the late 80’s. “I said to myself I am not going to be retrenched I am going to do a skill programme where I will work for the Government and I can also work for myself and that prompted me to join GTI.”
She recalled making the sacrifice of travelling from the village of Vergenoegen on the West Coast of Demerara to GTI every day for 2 years. “For 2 years I had to leave my widow mother’s home 4:30 in the morning….then you had to walk from the stelling to GTI,” she revealed. After completing the programme, she was recruited back at GTI where she worked as a Machinist II in the electrical department and a Laboratory Technician. She took the opportunity to elevate herself and moved up from the craft level to the technical level. Over the years Brotherson served at several organizations where she kept moving up the ladder until returning to GTI in 2000 where she was elevated from a lecturer I to the first female senior lecturer before being transferred to Linden as the Deputy Principal.
The educator spoke of the plethora of experiences derived over the years working in a male dominated field where she jokingly reminisced on being the ‘Queen among the men.’ Now that she is an educator is a strange community, she expressed having no regrets choosing the vocational career path. “My mom and dad were TVET material so it runs through the family,” she affirmed. One of her greatest rewards is seeing the success of many of her students who would have graduated and landed themselves respectable jobs. She encourages women who want to pursue a non-traditional career to follow their dreams and to be themselves. “You have to love what you are doing, once you put your mind and your soul and your heart to it you will go through, once you start your day with faith and a prayer, God will give you the strength to pull through.”