Mechanics are Doing It For Themselves

Unfortunately, sexism still exists. I remember when, during a journalism course at Roosevelt University, some of the female classmates who have worked at professional newspapers talked about how women are still victims of discrimination in the news industry. One woman, for instance, ranted about her bosses who always handed them the "safe" stories or called her stuff like "honey." And it gets worse around the world. Several cultures require women to be servants who are programed to cater to their husbands, fathers and men in general.

I wish the world didn't need organizations like NOW or the Lady Mechanic Initiative. What's the Lady Mechanic Initiative? It's an organization that was created by Sandra Aguebor to let the men of Africa know that women have the right and the ability to fix a carburetor just like guys. An article in Yahoo! News says that being a mechanic is usually only an option for men in Nigeria. This is especially bad for disadvantaged, less-educated women who are forced to only accept jobs like hairdressing or domestic work, which offers little pay and a small social status. (Nigeria, however, has several educated women that excel in business and, most recently, politics.) Some women, due to a lack of money or opportunity, had to drop out of school and become prostitutes.

The Lady Mechanic Initiative wants all of that to change. The organization provides women with training and even insurance for their students (70 in all, so far) and their families. Here's how she got started:

A devout Christian, Aguebor says that God spoke to her through a series of childhood dreams and told her that she should become a mechanic. With no other mechanics in the family, her father initially scoffed at the idea, until he traveled to the US in the 1980s and saw women working in positions considered "men only" in Nigeria.

Her first "garage" was a patch of land covered with cardboard for shade, but she has always aimed high. An avid reader of self-help books, Aguebor encourages her girls to think big - and they do.

Aguebor hopes to one day expand the Initiative and spread her message beyond Nigeria. Good Luck.