By Michel Outridge

IN an effort to ‘bring the bacon home’ this qualified school teacher is also a coal miner in Circuitville, Soesdyke/Linden Highway, an occupation dominated by men.

But Keisha Higgins is made up of tougher things and is not fazed by hard, back-breaking work as a coal miner; she works even harder than most men.

The 24-year-old started coal mining with her mother, Natasha Higgins, who began coal mining to support her children and home.

Higgins is attached to the Yarrowkabra Primary School and since she was a young girl, she has been with her mother doing coal mining.

“This is my side hustle and I prefer to work by myself, even though the conditions are not right, the dust, the smoke and the weather be it rain or sun, the environment is harsh, but is a job for me and I do it because it brings in an earning to the home,” she said.

When the Pepperpot Magazine caught up with her she was packing wood in a pit; lifting heavy pieces of wood and placing it in the pit which was already sand-filled.

After packing the pit it will be covered again with sand and zinc sheets then set alight where it will smoke continuously for many days before it produces coal.

The coal, once cooled — which takes days — will be placed in salt bags and readied for sale at less than $1,000 per bag to wholesale buyers.

Higgins is one of a few women who work at the coal-mining section of Circuitville for a living, and it is indeed hard labour with no shortcuts.

It is almost amazing to watch Higgins work; she exhibits such strength and endurance most young men lack.

“I have the drive to be successful and I know what I am doing because I have been doing this since I small, so this is my living and that motivates me to keep going and I can out-work my brothers, who would come peep and leave,” she said.

Higgins comes from a family of six, the first teacher in the family and she isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty.

She related that before the pandemic she was a full-time teacher and on weekends she used to help her mom, but after schools closed its doors she took up coal mining as a full-time job because she needs to earn.

“Before the virus, I used to play cricket with the youths in my village but now people don’t gather up too much and we can’t have a crowd, so I prefer to work,” she said.

Higgins and her mother Natasha Higgins, 42, are part of the Yarrowkabra/Circuitville Coal Miners’ Association and they pay a fee for every bag of coal produced.

She told the Pepperpot Magazine that coal mining isn’t a fancy job and many people cannot withstand the dust, smoke and harsh conditions under which she works but she has a mindset to succeed and that she will do.

Higgins stated that being a coal miner entails being patient and it is not a fast money job but it is a sure thing.

The teacher added that wood is bought for coal mining and there is another cost for transportation from the sawmills.

“It is a give-and-take kind of work, so with that in mind I still do it hoping to make even a small profit,” she said.

Higgins’ determination is nothing but admirable and she works side by side with a lot of men who admire her perseverance as well.

The people around her have only good things to say about her because she is respectful and a quiet person, who goes about her job well.