New breed of women defying the norm to take up men’s work

By PHILIP MWAKIO

Clad in green overalls complete with hard hats, this quartet of women builders ably represents a rare group. They have taken the construction industry by storm on the Kenyan coast.

Meet Mariam Charo Ndela, Mildred Anyolo, Margaret Akoth and Mercyline Nyanjama.

They are heavily involved in the construction of houses and are currently based at the Sunset Paradise Apartments off the Mombasa-Malindi Road.

They form part of a group of workers putting up a modern and exclusive gated housing estate on a 14-acre piece of land. They are casual workers employed by Conquip Services Ltd.

Moral support

The Sunset Paradise project encompasses two and three bedroom houses, with standard and executive options among other amenities.

For Ndela, 38, and a mother of five who include two adopted children from her late sister, any job is welcome provided it puts food on the table.

“I could no longer sit at home and watch my husband struggle alone. With my little education, I sought employment at nearby construction sites and have been a regular call-up whenever there are bigger construction projects like this current one,’’ she told Business Beat.

On the day of the interview, we found Ndela mixing sand and cement and plastering a section of a wall on one of the blocks under construction.

With sweat running down her checks, Ndela says that her modest earnings, which she gets at the end of every seven days, supplement the family income.

“We have four of our children going to school and I am able to cater for their school needs from my work,’’ she said.

Ndela’s colleagues at work have won applause from their male supervisor, Peter Karanja,  who describes them as being on an equal footing with their male counterparts.

“They require little supervision and do thorough work when assigned,’’ he said. Karanja revealed that each working day starts at 7.30am and ends at 4pm, with a one-hour lunch break.

New opportunities

Twenty-three-year-old Anyolo, a former student of St Boneventure Shimanyalo Secondary School in Kakamega County, missed out on pursuing a university education but could not sit back and stare at joblessness.

“I have a vision to excel. Despite being at this construction site, I still have ambitions to do well in life. There is no looking back as I believe strongly that this is just the beginning for me,’’ she said, speaking from the topmost storey where, together with her two colleagues, she was cleaning debris.

Pushing around a wheelbarrow laden with a mixture of cement and sand, Akoth finds it a challenge to work at a construction site.  “I am more focused both mentally and physically as I work here. I hate to stay at home cooking,’’ she said.

She dared men to consider recruiting more women to put up decent housing, as the experience she and her female colleagues have gained is invaluable. “ We have served as conscientious understudies for the more advanced male masons here, and we are capable of even digging or excavating very firm foundations,’’ she said.

Some of the women builders admitted that their husbands are jobless and stay at home while they go out to look for jobs on construction sites.

Job selection

Nyanjama willingly supports her extended family of 10 with her earnings. Her husband works in a different field. Together, they are able to educate their two children.

 “While men stay at home, we have chosen not to despair as this would turn us into a state of hopelessness. I can do any job provided it puts food on the table at the end of the day,” she observed.

To get to work each morning, the women builders have to wake up very early and do their household chores before finding their way to the construction sites.

“ Normally those we recruit have no basic knowledge of construction but after a while they are able to grasp all the necessary steps required in construction work,’’ Karanja said of the women builders recruited at the site.