BY JOY OFASIA
MARY Sau is one of the female line mechanics in a heavily male-dominated electrical trade industry in the Solomon Islands.
According to Mary, when line mechanics were initially introduced by Solomon Power in 2019, she revealed that she was the only female participant among nine males.
In an interview with SOLOMON WOMEN, Mary emphasized the need for more women to be involved in this trade’s profession.
“I would like to encourage females to apply for this career. It is an interesting profession, even though it is a male-dominated profession, but if you have the passion, you will be able to do it. Why not let’s ask more females about this interesting male career?
“There are currently only two of us who are females in this profession under Solomon Power, so if there is any female who is studying trades, especially in the field of electrical, I call out to you to please join us,” she added.
Mary attended Don Bosco Technical Institute for three years before starting work at Solomon Power in 2017. Later, he quit Solomon Power to work for the Island Enterprise, but he returned in 2019 as a line mechanic for Solomon Power.
“I am happy, blessed, and honored to be the first female among nine males to become a line mechanic back then.
“To be a line mechanic, you have to be ready and alert at all times, and you must have the passion to drive you to do this job. This part of the job could be challenging when having to go out to work whenever there is a problem with the powerlines in the middle of the night or in any bad weather condition,” Mary explained.
Mary highlighted the value of teamwork, particularly with male colleagues, in completing tasks effectively.
“I would like to thank Solomon Power for giving me the opportunity to be on the distribution team. How I came to love this job is having a strong mindset that girls can do this job too, even though it’s a male-dominated job,” she said.
