Building boom spells success for Somali women engineers

MOGADISHU: As Somalia's capital Mogadishu witnesses a construction boom following improvements in security, civil engineer Faduma Mohamed Ali is hard at work, supervising male laborers twice her age and breaking barriers in the conservative East African country.

The 22-year-old has battled social stigma, family opposition and workplace harassment, but told Agence France-Presse (AFP) she never doubted her choice of career.

«I always liked buildings,» she said.

When she enrolled in a civil engineering degree program — the only woman in her class — her relatives were quick to cast aspersions.

«They said: How can a girl waste time to study civil engineering?.. this is work for men.»

The jibes continued even after she graduated and found a job in Mogadishu.

«They used to ask: Are you crazy?»

In a country where women account for less than a third of the workforce, according to the World Bank, many parents frown on the prospect of their daughters working in close quarters with men.

«I would not have [wanted]… my daughter to work at a construction site with men. This is not for women. I would rather she chose… a female-dominated profession,» said Abdikafi Hassan Duale, a father of six.

«This is for their safety and protection from social harassment,» he told AFP.

But attitudes are changing.

Fathi Mohamed Abdi told AFP that her parents were «very happy» and supportive of her decision to become the first civil engineer in their extended family.

«They started encouraging me in this while I was studying, and they have continued to do so now that I am working,» the 23-year-old said.

They even «wake me up in the morning when I oversleep, [so I can] get to work,» she added.

At university, she was one of only two women studying civil