“I COME here with nothing, only with a bag and my suitcase with clothes, but I have to make my future in Guyana, I feel grateful to this country because this is a great start again for me.”

Those were the words of Lissette Perez, a young Venezuelan civil engineer who is determined not to put her university studies and experience to waste but rather, to advance her career on Guyanese soil, citing the promising opportunities available here for women in the field.

During a recent interview, Perez described her journey from Caracas to Georgetown, a trip which, although she saw it as a gamble, is proving to be rewarding despite several hurdles which she overcame along the way while settling in here.

She left her family behind in Caracas in May, 2018, when she caught a bus and headed for a port in the town of San Felix close to the border between the two countries. She said from there she caught a boat and headed to Charity on the Essequibo Coast in search of greener pastures. According to her, the boat ride was a trip she wishes not to ever repeat, since the rough waters as well as rainy conditions made the voyage uncomfortable and scary.

A friend’s advice

Perez explained that a friend who migrated to Guyana prior to 2018, told her that there are opportunities in the engineering field in Guyana and being a female with over five years of experience, having worked on large projects in the Bolivarian Republic, she decided to travel to Guyana.

She said that she worked on projects such as the construction of housing complexes, as well as cable car installations among others in her home country and as such, she thought at the time that she had enough experience to lend to the sector here. Her last assignment in her home country was in another state outside of her hometown in Caracas and according to her, the economic situation created many bottlenecks for her plans to expand her career there.
Perez, who along with her two sisters, was raised by their mother, noted that her future as an engineer is important. ”This is futuristic, because the issues, political and economic in my country, I can’t get the things I plan to do with my job,” she said. She said she lived with an older sister and younger sibling at the time she moved to Guyana, noting that her mother died some 10 years ago while she was still studying at the university level.
Life in Venezuela

After completing her studies, Perez gained employment at a private firm and the company paid all her expenses, but she noted that over the five years she worked in her home country, the situation became dire and although she gained good experience on the projects she managed, the salary could only defray her expenses, minus those of her two siblings.

She recalled that in 2013 she completed her studies at the university level and soon after she started working in the field. “My first project was an urban complex, it was 40 buildings and every building had 14 apartments; that was my first experience managing as engineer,” she said.
She said her second major project was that of a cable car infrastructure, noting that soon after she moved from Caracas to manage another project. It was while there that her friend encouraged her to come to Guyana.

Arrival and life in Guyana
”I come here with nothing, I had to obviously start from zero ,” she said, as she giggled at the struggles she endured while adjusting to life here. As she smiled, she said her journey thus far has been one with many experiences.Among those were obtaining a work permit since she never worked in another country before.In addition, she made several trips to the Guyana Revenue Authority to ensure that her documents were in order.

She said that finding somewhere to live was another issue.”I moved from Campbellville, then to Newtown and then I found a house in Herstelling and now I am in Providence,” she added. She said during one of her many rental experiences, she lived with two other persons and the rent became an issue, since the company she worked with initially, experienced several issues. “I had no money and it was hard for me because I could not pay my part of the rent and they asked me to move out,” she said, adding that she asked for two months of stay.

With nowhere to go and living in a strange country, she said she was lucky to find another job through her friend who had encouraged her to move to Guyana. She said her new employer assisted her with finding a new home.

She said with her current salary, she is able to pay her personal expenses, including rent as well as help her sibling back home in Caracas. She said she is currently employed as a consultant with a private entity and according to her, she may be the only female engineer attached to the firm. Perez reiterated that her employer has been most supportive.

The determined young woman noted that she plans to one day manage her own engineering firm on these shores, noting that the possibility exists with the opportunities she has seen thus far.

Working in Guyana

Perez said that when she came to Guyana she worked with a private firm and her tasks included completing drawings, putting together project proposals among other tasks. She said the company was experiencing several issues and she then decided to part with the company and move onto her current employer.
“In Guyana most of the engineers working here are men,” she said. ”Here is like, the woman no do this job, the woman do the work of the secretary, not to do inspections,” she said, adding that seeing the project sites and working along with the contractors is what she is accustomed to.
As she smiled, Perez said that being a male dominated profession in Guyana, she believes that the job of an engineer is not seen as one ideal for a woman noting that she is making the adjustments she advances her career.

Family life in Venezuela and Guyanese food

Perez said that her mother struggled to raise her and her two sisters, noting that she never knew her father until her mother died. ”From childhood , only aunts and my father brother I know,” she said, adding that “I am the woman here in front of you because my mother and sisters do what they could for me,” she said, as she perfected her English.

She noted that one of the things she enjoys the most since moving to Guyana is the food. She said that although it is different, she has adjusted to taste and style of preparation, noting that curry is one of her favourites.

The young engineer is currently working on a small business in which she will sell Mexican jewellery via an online platform. She is in the process of setting up that venture, as she pointed to her plans to make Guyana her home.