Basseterre, St. Kitts (SKNIS): A five-week series of training for women in areas traditionally dominated by men commenced on Saturday (March 02, 2024), with the basics of plumbing.

It was a full house as 34 of the registered 35 females participated in the hands-on session that covered fixing a leaky faucet, unclogging blocked drains, repairing a running toilet, joining pipes and more. The 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. class was held at the Advanced Vocational Education Centre (AVEC).

The training was organised by the Department of Gender Affairs to commemorate International Women’s Day on March 08, 2024. Acting Director of Gender Affairs, Shinnel Charles, expressed pleasure with the outcome of the first training.

“The session was awesome,” she stated. “At the end of the session, I had interaction with some of the women, and I asked them questions like ‘how was it for you?’ Most of them said that they liked the session. Two of them were rushing to go to the hardware store before it closed because they wanted to buy two small items to fix pipes at home. I smiled because I can see that we made an impact.”

Empowering women with the “know-how” in several technical fields so that they can address minor issues in the home or with a car was the objective of the Women in Plumbing session, explained Mrs. Charles. The materials for the workshop were provided by S. L. Horsford and Company Ltd, while the session was facilitated by an official from the Public Works Department.

Next week’s session is dubbed Women in Auto Mechanics. Registration is fully booked.