A Day in the Life of an Area Mechanic: Selina Jere
Meet Selina Jere – an inspiring woman and exceptional Area Mechanic for Pump Aid Beyond Water (PABW)
Selina worked as a farmer and volunteer prior to her Area Mechanic training, unable to earn a substantial income to support her family. Upon hearing about the opportunity to train as an Area Mechanic, Selina took the opportunity and was given technical and business training. PABW advanced her working capabilities and Selina now feels fully confident in her responsibilities as an Area Mechanic. Selina benefits from taking her work as a business, she earns a steady income and pursues other income-generating activities to further amplify her economic advancement.
Selina states that her biggest challenge as an Area Mechanic is men underestimating her ability to perform her jobs. However, Selina is confident in her skills and provides PRM services despite the opinions of those who doubt her. She says that the men who doubted her now come to her with hope. Selina likes serving as a positive example for other women, showing them that women are capable of working in male-dominated fields. Since joining PABW, Selina has been able to buy land, pay for her children’s school, and aims to buy land for each of her children. She also wants to build a house that she can rent out, creating an additional revenue stream.
Selina spends her days looking after her family, repairing and maintain water pumps, and taking on other entrepreneurial conquests. Selina has been a valuable part of the PABW team in Kasungu ever since she completed her training. Not only does she ensure safe water access for her neighbours, but she’s become financially independent in the process. Learn more about what a typical day for Selina is below.
Selina’s Day:
4:30 am – 7:30 am: Selina wakes up at 4:30 am and starts her day by sweeping her compound. She then prepares water for her husband’s bath. She continues her morning and makes breakfast for her family.
7:30 am – 9:00 am: Selina fetches water from the borehole. The duration of this task depends on how many people are fetching water at that time, leading to a longer wait time.
Did you know? The burden of water fetching typically falls upon the shoulders of women and girls. When there is not a safe local water source, they can be forced to walk up to 6 km daily to fetch water or risk their family’s health by drawing from unprotected sources.
9:00 am – 3:00 pm: Selina primarily completes domestic tasks in the late morning and early afternoon. When she comes home from fetching water, she starts preparing lunch for her family. Once Selina and her family finish lunch, Selina bathes her son and grandson.
3:00 pm – 7:00 pm: Selina ensures she devotes time daily to spending time with her family. Around this time, she typically gets calls to go repair a borehole. Selina will go and check out the boreholes and see what kind of repair is needed. She fixes minor faults immediately if she has the necessary tools and parts. If the boreholes require a major fix, she returns home and plans to fix the borehole, ensuring she is prepared to complete the repair.
Did you know? Pump Aid Beyond Water guarantees faults in boreholes to be fixed within 72 hours of notice. We ensure reliability and functionality, minimising time spent without a reliable local water source if a breakdown ever does occur.
7:00 pm – onwards: Once Selina completes all her calls as an Area Mechanic, she heads home. Selina ends her day spending time with her family, making dinner and then she goes to bed.
Women Area Mechanics:
At PABW, we value the women Area Mechanics on our team that work hard to bring reliable access to safe water for their local communities. Engineering jobs are largely male dominated, often due to societal norms and stereotypes surrounding technical and physically demanding work. Pump Aid challenges the status quo, acknowledging the valuable skills and knowledge women can bring to the role. We strongly believe in the capabilities of women in this role and are committed to providing them with the training and resources needed to not only succeed but also to become leaders and role models within their communities, ultimately contributing to more sustainable and equitable access to clean water.
Support Area Mechanics, like Selina, through donating to our life-changing programmes in Malawi.
Watch Selina’s Day in the Life video, here.
