Aloisea Benimana did not have a chance to get formal education, or any vocation training at an early age. A native of Masoro sector in the current Rulindo District in 1982, like many girls born in rural areas at the time, her education was not given priority.

Born in a family of 10 siblings in the Northern Province District, Benimana’s fate as the seventh child was sealed from the beginning.

Back in the day, when a family in the rural area bore many children, the priority for education was given to the male child, mainly due to limited resources or a wastage of resources to educate a girl child when it is known that at the end, she would be a housewife.

The female child would mostly stay at home to do chores and support her mother in other activities, like farming and cooking and as soon as they would become teenagers, they would be married off.

That is what happened to Benimana, now 43, and a mother of six herself. Today, she is mechanic, specialising in motorcycles – a job she has been doing since 2005. Being a mechanic is a preserve for men in most cases.

It was considered a male vocation, because it requires a lot of strength, since it involves dealing with big metals, hard screws and spanners. Besides, men are considered to know more about vehicles and mechanics than women.

It is a stereotype that holds back women and girls in different jobs, including those, whose skills are acquired through formal education, such as engineering, architecture and many other gender-assigned vocations.

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Like many girls married off at a young age in rural areas, Benimana’s first option was to become a subsistent farmer – a labour-intensive alternative, whose yields are not even guaranteed.

In 2005, Benimana dropped the hoe and picked the spanner, venturing into the male dominated world of motorcycle repair.

"I have been doing this for a long time. It is my husband who introduced me to this trade. We got married when he was already a mechanic. He got me out of the house and taught me how to repair motorcycles,”

"I did not study it anywhere. I have been doing this since 2005,” Benimana told The New Times from her work station in Kacyiru.

At the time, taxi-motos were increasingly becoming a preferred and convenient choice of transport in most parts of Rwanda. They saw an opportunity.

Benimana wakes up very early to join men, especially at a site known as ‘Ku kibanza cya Sina’, to fix broken down ‘motos’, and also on the road where she is called to fix motorbikes where they broke down from.

It is a job she has done so diligently, and it has paid off, but not as much as it should.

From the earnings, she has been able to buy a piece of land and built a house. It is not the most lucrative of jobs, but it has been able to sustain her and her family.

On a day she can earn between Rwf5, 000 and Rwf10, 000, but with that she has been able to educate her children. Her first-born twins, now 21, have completed their secondary education.

A challenging job

With many of the taxi-moto riders also semi-illiterate, some harbour gender stereotypes, and deliberately refuse to give her an opportunity to repair their bikes when they break down.

"Some men will say ‘a woman cannot touch my bike’, and most times I don’t bother explaining to them because I know people don’t have the same understanding or mindset, but it is a challenge I face,” says the soft spoken devout ADEPR believer.

Sometimes Benimana’s colleagues try to explain to motorcycle operators that she knows what she does, and they reluctantly accept, but eventually when she proves them wrong, next time they come looking for her.

From where she works from, she is the only woman doing what she does. It is a competitive job, with many men also still working as mechanics. It requires a bit of capital to invest in spare parts and tools to ease the work.

"Sometimes I get a client, but I don’t have the kind of spare part they want to fix the bike. That limits how much I can do,” says Benimana, who says if she got capital and perhaps a work station would do even more.

"I would wish to have my own garage and equipment for me to be able to do what I feel I can do but I don’t have that capital, but that is my dream- to do it in a more a professional way and as a business,” she says.

It is a tough world out here, but Benimana encourages girls to take on these jobs that were considered a preserve for men.

"Girls have to be bold and go to school, study and acquire the skills when they still have a chance. There is no job a girl or woman can’t do. You just need to study and put focus on it,”

"If I had an opportunity to go back to school, I would but because I have a family to take care of, it is not easy. So, I focus on this,” she says.

‘Smashing’ gender barriers

Like two other women such as bus driver Ernestine Mukagihana, and motor vehicle mechanic Eusta Yorodaniya, whose story was published by The New Times, Benimana is one of the many women shattering gender barriers.

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Jackline Kamanzi, Executive Secretary of the National Women’s Council (NWC), affirms that they are seeing a trend of women increasingly taking up tasks and roles which were previously considered for men, much as there is still a long way to go.

This will help address gaps in the labour force, much as women’s representation in the labour force is remains low compared to men with 52.2 per cent, while men’s participation stands at 67.3 per cent, according to the Rwanda Labour Force Survey 2023.

Traditionally, Kamanzi says dominate in what are known as ‘female jobs’ such as cleaning services, hair dressing, tailoring, and customer care, which are less remunerating.

However, as of today, women are seeing opportunities in men dominated jobs, which are well-paying like construction, transport and logistics, among others.

According to labour force survey 2023, women participation in transportation and storage is 4.1 per cent against 95.9 per cent of men, while the participation rate is 10.5 per cent in mining and quarrying compared to 89.5 per cent of men.

This shows that there are still gaps.

"Even though we are trying to reach the gender parity for female students enrolled in STEM upper Secondary and TVET, STEM female graduates in Higher education institutions are still low at 36.9 per cent against 63.1 per cent of men,” Kamanzi says, quoting the Educational Statistics Yearbook 2021-2022.

"Together with awareness campaigns conducted, we implemented some projects empowering girls and women with skills and knowledge in the mining and transport sectors,” she adds.

She points out that this contributed a lot to increasing the number of women in those male dominated trades even though they still have much to do to bridge the persisting gap.

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According to Labour Force Survey (LFS), women employed in transport and storage increased from 3411 to 9481 from 2017 to 2023. It means an increase of almost three two times, while men increased from 115,770 to 222.008,”

"In mining and quarrying, employed women increased from 4862 to 5265, while men decreased from 49,756 to 44,703 from 2017 to 2023,” she points out.

The NWC executive secretary says that the Government of Rwanda is strengthening existing and establish new capacity development programmes for women and girls in order to increase their participation in descent, well-paying and male dominated job opportunities, especially in transport, mining and tourism.

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Among other things, she said there are different mechanisms and programmes to ensure shared responsibility between men and women over domestic work or unpaid work being put in place.

These include the community education and men engagement strategies in gender promotion.

A call to action

Kamanzi encourages girls and women to get bolder and see where the opportunities are, and resist being held back by gender stereotypes.

"Women and girls should embrace their ambition knowing that all careers are meant for them regardless their gender. Gender norms and stereotypes are outdated barriers that have no place in their journey,”

"They have to challenge them at every turn as their unique perspective and skills are invaluable,” she asserts.

She encourages women and girls to seek role models and mentors, who have paved the way in their chosen fields previously dominated by men. This, she says, may provide guidance, support and encouragement.

"There is a global community of women who have faced similar challenges and have succeeded despite them. They may draw strength from their stories and know that they are part of a larger movement working towards gender equality and empowerment,”

"Women and girls, should build their confidence and believe in themselves. Trust in your abilities and never let self-doubt hold you back. Your dreams are within reach if you dare to pursue them with determination and courage,” Kamanzi concludes.