Ayan- The Female Electrician who is Setting Trends in Somaliland

Ayan  Ali  Abdullahi is a 23 year old student living in Burco district of Togdheer region, Somaliland. She is the eldest of 10 children with 9 siblings, 5 sisters  and 4 brothers . Ayan has lived in Burco town all her life, it is where she   completed her primary and secondary education. 

Ayan completed her secondary education in 2013 at the age of 19. At that point in her life Ayan did not really have a plan as to what career path s he wanted to take, her father was a lorry driver and her mother was a homemaker. Ayan had watched her family struggle financially for a while and it was not until one fateful day that Ayan decided what it would be, She narrates the moment fondly.

“I remember one day our fuse socket at home had a problem so we called an electrician to our house, I recall watching the man as he fixed the problem and saying I could have done that. He laughed and said there are no fem ale electricians and that it is not a job for a women. This did not discourage me but motivated me to want to prove him wrong. I later found out through friends about a fully paid Technical Vocational Training (TVET) electrician course at Burco Training Institute (BTI).

I was immediately interested as I wanted to broaden my horizons and gain as many skills as possible but I also wanted to prove that a woman could be an electrician.  I asked the head teacher weather I  could enroll for the class and at first he was surprised, he asked me why I wanted to do this course and I told him that I was interested and fascinated by the subject and wanted to learn how to fix a socket. He laughed and said as long I was passionate and was willing to work hard he would enroll me for the electrician course.

My success however come with many challenges. After graduation, the head teacher arranged a meeting for all of us with the main electricity company in the city. However, when I went for the meeting they were surprised and said it is against their policy to hire women. I objected but they were adamant that it was not a job for a woman and they could not em ploy female staff to climb  ladders and do such dangerous task s. 

This was extremely disheartening but I did not want to allow it to affect my determination to succeed in life. I know that in our society, attitudes will not change overnight and a lot of patience but also activism is required. What I am really pleased about is that since the third cycle of the electricity course which just started a few week s ago, two fem ales have now enrolled. I am happy that my previous presence can be an example for other girls to enroll in an electricity course. 

In order for something to not be uncommon in our community we need more women to enroll not only in electricity but also other traditionally non-fem ale courses. The more women there are, the more common it becomes and hopefully more opportunities will open up for women in the work place. They are also essential life skills to have. My advice to all other young girls is to not allow fear to stop you from trying.”

“My advice to all other young girls is to not allow fear to stop you from trying.” Ayan.