Patching things together
27-year-old,
Elizabeth Johnson
(Delano Williams photo
27-year-old, Elizabeth Johnson (Delano Williams photo

Single mother of four says vulcanising is her passion

AS STEREOTYPICAL as it may seem, today, a majority of women are still often found behind a desk, neatly dressed and ready to type their life away on a computer. Rarely do you find a woman who is ready to dedicate her time and effort to fixing a grease-filled car or a dirty tyre as a career.

27-year-old, Elizabeth Johnson

Over the years, women have been at the helm of a revolution for equality and that includes filling the shoes of men by taking on similar challenges and tedious tasks, even if it means getting oil on their clothes, grease on their face and skin and a bit of dirt on their hands.
One such woman is 27-year-old, Elizabeth Johnson, a vulcaniser/mechanic who spends her day working at RRT Enterprise on Regent Street, where she repairs dozens of tyres each day or even lends a hand to repair a car.

Tyre vulcanisation is the process of adding new raw rubber to a damaged area of a tyre to create a repair suitable for the rest of the tyre’s road life.
The single mother of four children has been in the profession for just over 10 years, not only because she loves what she does but because she has her children at heart and believes that she needs to work hard to give them a “better life”.

CHANCE AND OPPORTUNITY
“I started living on my own at the age of 17 and from then I started working at Tony’s Tyre shop in Mc Doom,” said Johnson.
She admitted that she did not go to the tyre shop for a job initially but, instead, would go there to hang out with some friends who happened to be employed there.
During her leisure time at the shop, she said she would look at how they would repair tyres and tubes with little or no pressure.

After sitting and watching for a few months, her opportunity to try her hand eventually came when one of the employees stopped turning up to work.

Keeping a smile even when things get tough (Delano Williams photos

“Them boys said, ‘Come let we see what you could do,’ and they teach me a few things. Then, little by little, I learned the important things on my own,” said Johnson, adding that after realising that she liked the profession, she decided to stay and worked at Tony’s as a vulcaniser for nine years.

Although Johnson parted ways with Tony’s she kept her knowledge of the profession close to her and now practices it at RRT.
“The job pays well and as a woman, I decided to stick with the profession because I know I able with it but not every woman would be able with it. I believe I am tough because from small I used to struggle because it was me and my little brother and sometimes my mom would [not] be there for [us]” she explained.

While growing up, the young mother said she did not even think she would do what she does because her dream was to get a simple, but nice job that would help her to be a successful woman.

THINGS WORKED OUT
Although to her, the job is not exactly what she dreamt of, it became something that she loves to do.

Johnson said she will continue to be herself because she intends to work hard in order to ensure that her children get what they want.
Despite being well at her job, Johnson believes that she could not have done it without the support and encouragement from friends and even strangers who are impressed by what she does.

Elizabeth Johnson doing what she does best

Even some of her co-workers are still amazed by her. They said she is one of the best employees on the job.
“No matter how big the tyre is or how hard the task is, she gets the job done without a complaint or frown,” said one of Johnson’s workmates.

The management and staff of RRT see her as an asset and believe that other women should take a page out of Johnson’s book.
For women who might want to be a mechanic, an engineer or a technician but are afraid they would not make it, she encouraged them to be themselves, put their pride aside and just put their dream in front.

A study in 2013 revealed that women made up less than two per cent of mechanics and auto technicians in the US, and only quarter of all employees in the motor vehicle and motor vehicle equipment manufacturing industry were female.

“Some days it will be hard and some things might be difficult to learn but just have faith, health and strength and do not let anyone down courage you or keep you back. Just do what you love,” said the young mother.

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