By Laudia Sawer, GNA
Tema, May 29, GNA – Madam Olivia Gordor, a forklift operator at the Tema Port, says women have a lot of potential to contribute to the maritime sector if given the needed push.
She said working as technical staff at the port for over three decades, many avenues existed in the field, some of which challenged women but with the little push they could progress and reach the highest levels.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview as part of the International Day for Women in Maritime, she said: “I have worked at the port for over 30 years, but the field always frustrates the women.”
She said some of the men would prove their superiority and let the women feel uncomfortable, but others would also give them the needed push to excel.
“Women must know their worth in the sector to be able to ignore the naysayers and stick to their vision and growth as maritime workers, especially in the technical field,” Madam Gordor said.
She encouraged the young women to consider taking up a career in the technical field of the maritime and port sectors, expressing her joy that gradually more women were enrolling.
“I had the chance of travelling outside the country, but I told myself to work for Ghana and make a mark,” she said.
Sharing her life story with the Ghana News Agency, Madam Gordor said her interest in the technical field started at a young age in Kumasi, where her mother used to sell food at Magazine, and she was often sent by the technicians there to pick one tool or the other for them to work with.
She said she ended up at the Accra Technical Training College (ATTC), where she received the skills to be a technician by profession and did welding, spraying, and panel beating, among others, as an auto technician.
Asked whether operating a forklift was difficult, she said it was difficult at the beginning, but after mastering and focusing on the job, it became an easy task.
“What I have realised is that in as much as you see a car moving forward, it is rather the back that does the steering for the forklift, so you realise that there are some accidents here and there because when the tyre turns, it turns from the back…”
Touching on how she managed her personal life and the demands of the work, Madam Gordor said it was not easy as her children, especially her daughter, often complained that she was always away from home, noting that with the technical field, she had to report at 0700 hours and close late.
She, however, said there must always be some balance to ensure that women achieved their career goals while taking care of their homes.
“With determination, success is always at hand,” she said, and encouraged the youth to consider the technical field and avail themselves to learn widely and broaden their horizon.
GNA