Ever imagined a woman boda boda driver?
Well meet this two lovely women from malindi who are passionate about boda bodas.
With her Asian hair tied in a pony tail,her tall torso and cute smile which exposes her soft features,wrapped up in abui bui one can hardly believe that she is a boda boda driver.
She seemed eager to share her story and couldn't help giggling,(I noticed that she was almost blushing from all the attention.
"I started with my father's tuk tuk in 2005,then in 2010 icame to malindi and immediately picked up a boda boda and decided to take the challenge head on!"
She continues to say that it was almost a taboo in her family for girls to cycle ,having come from a tough asian/Kikuyu family,her Indian dad didn't buy that idea.
Mrs,caroline wanjiku looks at me straight and says "I have two big boys ,am not young!
This time am left tongue tied,just gazing.
Mrs Anne Natheka narrates almost the same story as caroline,"Am a mother of one girl and three boys and for me boda boda is my daily bread,i started cycling in 2010 here in malindi,and I have never regreted despite the fact that I came all the way from kitui.
So I was eager to hear what challenges they face being the only women boda boda drivers in malindi.
Mrs Caroline first chuckles,then smiles ,m"madam trust me it's not easy,mwanaume anakuuliza nitashikilia wapi,nami nakwambia shikilia tairi hehehehe
"
It was evident that most men are not comfortable in being ridden by them due to stereotypes and social constructs although ironically women are the best drivers in the world!
Mrs Anne smiles when I asked about profits and get eyes in a second were lit iup,"in a day I make ksh.1000 compared to a normal driver who earns five hundred and have to take ksh.300 to the owner of the motorbike,the business is profitable when one is the manager.
"I urge young girls to take this courses and jobs that are believed to be for men,there is nothing that limits a woman in persuing and achieving excellence"
The girl child has definately been empowered to take any challenge that comes there way head on!
Mrs Caro's parting shot,"whatever you do ,do it with all your heart and put God first and everything will work out"
It's such inspiring stories that makes me see the hope of attaining goal five on women inclusion and economic justice,there is nothing that women can not achieve,we are definately women without limits!
Gone are the days when women use to belong strictly to the kitchen,its high time the society wore a gender lens in addressing some of the emerging issues. Some utterances made by renowned leaders are quite heart breaking,for instance when the president of Nigeria says that his wife belongs to the kitchen,it depicts how the society at large is affected by gender blindness. Does it then mean that we are aware of the capabilities and skills women possess but we are in denial? Quite often the society uses the alibi that the girl child is overempowered but to what extent? There is a very huge need of implementing goal give of the SDGs,Gender equality.for example in some of the offices what is the ratio of men to women considering their post and influence in decision making in that company? Just like any other gender women need to be given chances influence change by including them and giving them full participation in decision making. In as much as we are in the 21st century we sti...
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