FOUR women were among 27 persons who made up the third batch of students to graduate from TOTALTEC International Marine and Petroleum Training Academy, at the Gafoor’s Complex, Houston; the first women to do so since the programme first began earlier this year.

Leading the way for other women to follow were Muarisia James, Kristina Balram, Coleen Moore and Rubena Adiana. The women were commended as they were presented with their certificates at the graduation ceremony at the Academy on Thursday.
The women are now armed with certificates that equip them to join Guyana’s emerging oil and gas industry. And they want other women to know that they have nothing to fear in making the choice to join the programme and take up a job in the oil and gas field. “For women out there that think that it’s a challenge, no, just prepare yourself. Yes, it’s really, really tough, but just remember that there’s always somebody here that you can lean on” advised 31-year-old James.

Going into the training, James wasn’t sure what to expect, but she was happy with what she found as she embarked on the eight weeks of training that the programme entailed. “I actually didn’t know what I was up for, to be honest. I decide to take the challenge based on comments from persons that were here before. It’s been tremendous, the guys here, we thought they would’ve been a turn-off, but we had such great support. It wasn’t a case whereby we didn’t have help, we had persons to back us. These guys, they were our shoulders to lean on,” she shared.

Nkosi Sandy will be looking to follow the path set out by these first four young ladies; she is the only young woman that will be a part of the next training batch which was also present at yesterday’s graduation ceremony. For Sandy, she has never been daunted at the thought of being a minority in the class, or in any male-dominated industry. In fact, performing in male-dominated areas is a bit of a passion for her. She studied mechanical engineering and fitting and machinery at the Guyana Technical Institute (GTI).

“Honestly, I am always up for a new challenge and this would give me the opportunity to do it. I like male work, that’s a challenge for me. “I like engineering,” Sandy conveyed. Sandy is giving up her job to be a part of the training programme, and change fields, but she sees it as being worth it. “I’m willing to make that kind of sacrifice,” she said.
Chief Executive Officer of TOTALTEC Oilfield Services, Lars Mangal, commended the four women and noted that the four had already been assigned duties at the Guyana Shore Base Inc. located next door to the academy. “This is the first batch involving women, first pioneering women that we’ve been able to catalyse to come into the oil and gas industry in operational positions,” Mangal noted.

Earlier during the ceremony, the feature address was presented by attorney Nigel Hughes, when he encouraged the students to put their skills to full use for their country. “You are privileged to be one of the first set of Guyanese to benefit from this initiative. The responsibility on your shoulder is greater than it has ever been for the shoulders of any other generation. You’re the generation that is beginning to see the El Dorado,’ Hughes noted.