They said within Islamic Sharia, women have to veil
themselves and stay at home and so on and so forth
Should I have veiled myself for them?
Whenever they would ask me to do so, I would hide away, until I began to cut my hair bold
I named myself Abdul Hakam
It was such a name!
They used to come and ask about Hikmat and they would be told that "we don`t have a Hikmat, we have Abdul Kakam",
Then the Investigations Officers would say that they didn`t want him
Later on, they began to see me on TV and newspapers and they were astonished
It was a name of…. a name of a street
I named myself after a street, and the workshop too
I learnt this trade from my uncle
I remember that was a long time ago
I was in 4th grade at primary school
I used to disassemble the motorbike, repair the tires and the wires
I used to look and imitate the way he worked, and he thought that I might lose interest in school
I waited for him to do all the work
Eventually, he began to rebuke me, telling me not to come and look at him while working on the motorbike
He did not want me to leave school
I told him "No no, I will study and after that,"
"I will try to work"
He said "No problem"
"when you study and succeed", he told me
"After that, I will teach you how to work"
Thereafter, I succeeded and entered intermediate school
And from Intermediate school, I told him that I wouldn`t go further to high school
I wanted to learn Mechanics
He found that I had keen interest in Mechanics
Soon after, he began to test me in certain things
He found that I began to understand, little by little.
When I embarked on the work, I really found myself providing for the family
They even favored me more than my brothers, thanks to God
You know!
I stood by my family sincerely
In fact, I have facilitated wedding of one of them and I have also supported the education of another
And thanks to God,
the men are envious of me
They say, "You have taken the motorbike to Hikmat the woman!"
They tell them "Yes", and they laugh
They laugh of course, and tell them that "This woman is better than you"
I have worked for them too, but as Abdul Hakam
I used to sit among them
They would tell me that there is a woman around, but "if we find her, we will arrest her!"
That had been me in person!
So far, there have been assistants;
I swear to God those people… Currently, there are lieutenants, I have known earlier,
Whenever they see me, They say, "Hikmat! There is no God, but God…"
"You have really mystified us" "You have made us mad"
I swear to God, everything is easy, it is about earning living
"The woman must have determination and persistence".
"The woman must have determination and persistence"
A woman should be 100% self-confident – thereafter, she will not face any problem.
As for carpentry, it is possible for her to stay with us and work at home, but the work in food selling (Taamiya)
She stays away from us
Most of her time is for Taamiya which involves sitting on the streets
The Kasha people are always after her
Sometimes, she comes home tired.
Once, while she was coming from work, she slipped and fell down
Her leg got dislocated
Many problems have happened
I work in carpentry to learn
To be able to work and benefit from that
There is no Kasha here, it is better than Taamiya
This is my mother sitting with me
I am also participating and working with her
If I miss something, she explains it to me
I can also have an opportunity to be with her
All of us have experienced and known what has been going on in this country
That is why women must exert effort
To find alternatives for themselves
Because, as being said
Just one source is no longer enough
The difference is in the understanding of the society, in the first place
it is not about that women are not able to work
It is about our mind-set in Sudan where we assume that women have to refrain from certain things;
It is a problem in the understanding more than in the women themselves.
We can change this perception through, for example, the women who are working with me here
When they (the women) graduate and present their works and say that this is the work of group X
All these are women, and they have achieved this work
Gradually, I and two, three, or four others can gradually make change in the society
Similarly, since the society has changed so many things;
over time we will be able to change the perception of the society.
I left school after the 3rd class examination at high school
I chose science particularly, the biology course
I got a low percentage, the conditions were not conducive and I could not return to school to repeat examinations
So I stayed at home
Then, I heard about the SIHA program and I applied for it
I enrolled in the General Electricity course, so I started working
The first person to reject the idea was my father
He wondered how a girl can stand in front of men and perform the same tasks as them
Nevertheless, I insisted on working
I told him that the current times are very difficult
We all must take care of ourselves
So, I told him that I will go and try my best at the work, and then I will decide
He told me that I was going to bring the certificate, but what would I do with it?
I told him that I may be progressive with the certificate
Yes, he is my father! He asked me if I had ever heard about a girl doing electric work,
and I responded that the situation is very familiar
My father is an Agricultural Engineer and my mother sells tea near our house
I do not like the tea-selling job because there are men that come to provoke and flatter one on the job
This is why I totally refuse to work as a tea-seller
I am unhappy because I could not finish my education
Currently, in my work in electricity, people have, and continue to provoke me
Everyone, including my brothers degrade me exclaiming how I am girl and I cannot perform Electric work
That is the unfortunate part of this whole issue
I am proving this to myself by doing electric connections at home and hopefully, that will convince him too
I have to connect everything else where for him to convince him that I have learnt the work – God willing
This way, I will be able to step forward
The most important thing is the persistence
One has to be persistent in everything
They say "It is a man's job!"
"What brought you in?"
"You will not be able to do it"
During the period of my study, I used to hear such things
"You will learn, but you will not work!"
"You will just keep the certificate in vain"
However, there is no job that classifies people by who can work
The one who has done is breaking the stereotype
The who who is able to work
Breaking the stereotype of women`s work?
Actually, when a woman works in fields that people consider as linked to certain genders
when you undertake such jobs, it means that you are breaking the stereotype
for example, in the field of Air-conditioning and Cooling
Girls are not familiar with the Air-conditioning and Cooling field
The fields of Mechanics and Electricity are known to be not for girls
When a girl takes part in them, she has broken the stereotype
because they are not basically there only for them
Those trades are not for men alone
There is no mention that such trades are for men alone, or that women are not able to do them
If women were not able to do them, then they would fail at the very beginning
Not even the few of us would be able to enroll
Although we are few, but we have enrolled
Women are able
I have my female-colleagues who are currently working in workshops
They have been able to break this stereotype
They are working in workshops
In Mechanics, General Electricity and others
If they were able to enter the field, it means the field is open to all
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