BY FORTIOUS NHAMBURA, 7 DECEMBER 2012
Charlotte Chani - clad in worksuit, helmet on her head and a trowel in hand - walks confidently to her workplace. It is 7.45am and Chani is about to start her day's work. She is bricklayer. As usual, she is the first to get to the workplace, something that even her male counterparts have failed to do. She has always accomplished her daily target of laying 600 bricks with ease despite being also the supervisor of the team.
Once her counterparts could not agree with Charlotte's choice to head the building brigade as they felt she was too young to lead them.
At 24, she commands a building brigade of 12 builders, with some men old enough to be her father.
But as destiny could have it prescribed, she has to lead and she does that with distinction.
For some of her workmates the hatred has now evolved into respect.
Charlotte is among the few women who have taken the construction industry by storm. They are bound not only to be part of the booming industry but to play a meaningful role in the sector that has been a male preserve.
That is the mission of the Zimbabwe Women in Construction Association, an organisation established with the primary objective of supporting women in the construction industry in Zimbabwe. The association is driven by the will to achieve more. ZWICA members are agreed that time has come to engender the sector and ensure more women participate fully in it.
Even companies with stakes in the construction industry are beginning to see the wisdom of bringing women in the sector and have started to contribute.
ZWICA president Mrs Elizabeth Chakadunga said years of working in a male-dominated environment had given her the zeal to open up opportunities for women in construction. As such she and others started the association of women in the construction industry.
Read the full article at allafrica.com.
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