By Aji Fatou Jammeh
In a country where mechanic work is male dominated, a female who chooses to venture in the field becomes unique and outstanding. Fatoumatta Jammeh, the founder and CEO of The Gambia Female Automotive Service Providers is such a woman. Married with three children, she defied stereotype and gain foothold in the auto mechanical industry.
According to The Gambia Labor Department only 3% of women are found this sector.
In an interview with Gambia Daily, Fatoumatta said she started the mechanic program in 2010. The 30 year old mechanic said after finishing high school, she attended a training program at Riders for Health where she started her mechanic apprenticeship program for eight years.
From there, she attended The Gambia Technical and Training Institute (GTTI) for four years and attained a certificate and diploma in Automotive. She said during her program at GTTI, she was more determined to change the status quo.
Fatoumatta said she chose mechanic as a career because she has always wanted challenges and always had passion in auto mechanic..
She stated that they have a long term plan to train twenty young women yearly and that they have established female auto mechanic clubs in secondary schools around the Greater Banjul Area.
“The reason we have clubs in these schools is because some women think auto mechanic is for me. Also, some people in secondary school find it very hard to make career choices,” she stated.
She noted that the best solution to our problem is for the government to create the right mechanism for the young people in order to stop them from going through the ‘Back Way’.
‘’They have to build industries in all the regions of the country. This can also help reduce the rate of unemployment in the country,’’ she said.
She said young people should enroll in vocational and technical schools available to develop them and contribute immensely to the development of the country, adding that the youth are the cream of the society.
She urged the youth to help develop the country and stop depending on people to for help, ‘’if the government cannot help you, help yourself’’.
The young mechanic said she is grateful her dream to train young women was achieved with the help provided by UNDP.
