Dakar:
As little girls, cousins Fatou Sylla and Fatou Kamara from Senegal dreamed of being car mechanics in a country where few women worked outside home.
To get started they worked as mechanics in repair shops till they collected enough money to open their own garage in 2005.
Now, they are celebrities in their district for breaking the stereotype and were even invited to meet Senegalese President in 2007.
But it wasn't easy as easy as it sounds.They faced their share of battle from male employees and male customers hesitant to leave their cars with female mechanics. But they fought and conquered.
Now, they run a successful business with eight employees, all of them men.
Another female mechanic who runs an auto repair shop outside Dakar is Ndeye Coumba.
At Femme Auto, she manages 30 employees, ten of whom are women.
She has also founded a group for female automechanics that now has 200 members.
To get started they worked as mechanics in repair shops till they collected enough money to open their own garage in 2005.
Now, they are celebrities in their district for breaking the stereotype and were even invited to meet Senegalese President in 2007.
But it wasn't easy as easy as it sounds.They faced their share of battle from male employees and male customers hesitant to leave their cars with female mechanics. But they fought and conquered.
Now, they run a successful business with eight employees, all of them men.
Another female mechanic who runs an auto repair shop outside Dakar is Ndeye Coumba.
At Femme Auto, she manages 30 employees, ten of whom are women.
She has also founded a group for female automechanics that now has 200 members.
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