Celebrating women in male-dominated sectors

Mashudu Mambo  

AS Zimbabwe joins the rest of the world in celebrating the International Women’s Month which celebrates the achievements of women across various sectors,Violet Masuku (40), a mother of four from Woodlands suburb in Bulawayo who manages a borehole drilling company called Delcor Drilling is incredibly honoured to stand among women who should be celebrated for their achievements, passion, innovation, leadership and creativity.

Masuku is one of the few women in the borehole drilling business which is largely dominated by men, and she narrated her childhood experiences that inspired her to venture into the business.

“I was inspired to be in the borehole drilling business because of my experience in the rural areas where my grandmother would send us to collect a bucket of water from the only borehole in the area that was extremely far from our homestead.

“When l ventured into business, l saw the need to start supplying borehole equipment and non-governmental organisations started saying they do not want people who just supply equipment but they want people who would drill boreholes,” she said.

Masuku said this stirred her to buy their first borehole drilling machine and this machine would mean that they were on site for long.

“This prompted us to buy our first machine called a jumper-rig and using this machine was challenging as it would mean that you would be on site for almost a month or two and at times you would fail to get the water.

In 2016, we bought our first rig and l was thrown into the deep and was told to manage the business,” said Masuku.

Masuku added that Delcor Drilling has been able to partner a number of women in different communities to drill  boreholes.

“We have done a lot in areas like Plumtree, Tsholotsho and Nkayi. We have had projects where we partner with various women who put money together to ensure that they reduce the distances that they have to walk to the nearest borehole. It has been quite an experience seeing women come together and doing these projects,” she said.

Masuku noted the different challenges that she has gone through as a woman in a male-dominated industry.

“There are various challenges that l have gone through in this industry and some entail the need to prove yourself as a woman. The moment some customers know that a woman is running a borehole business the tests begin.

“It is only when you finish the job where they will come to you and confess that they did not believe that you would be able to do the job,” said Masuku.

Masuku encouraged women who aspire to venture into male-dominated businesses to brace up for different challenges and believe in themselves.

“The advice that l have to women is that when you decide to be in business it’s more of tears and sweat especially in male-dominated businesses and as you walk along the way you will find different people who would help you along the way,” she said.

Delcor Drilling was founded in 2016 and it has been involved in different corporate social responsibilities where it donated food aid to 200 families in areas like Tsholotsho, Plumtree, Ngozi Mine, Ntabazinduna and Killarney Squatter Camp.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *