South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Okech Francis
When Jokudu Rejoice slams on the pedals of her car, hitting the road to reach the people in need across South Sudan, only one thing is on her mind-reaching her destination in time to meet the health needs of the people.
Just 28 years old, the single parent is a driver with the World Health Organization tasked with deliveries of health logistics and personnel across the country, and more so to communities in the hard to reach areas.
Rejoice, in her passion, stands out as a role model for many people in the country, including those in her age bracket and fellow women alike.
That passion caught up with her at a tender age, in her primary school days.
“I used to see a female driver who comes to our school and when I see the vehicle, I look at her for a long time feeling I should be her,” Rejoice told The Dawn in an interview in Juba.
Rejoice has traversed South Sudan in her car, driving from Juba to Aweil in Northern Bahr el Ghazal, hitting the stretches through Awerial, Rumbek, Yirol in Lakes State reaching Awiel North Awiel South.
She is comfortable eating the miles through Equatoria, to Kapoeta North, Kapoeta East, Budi County, Nimule, Tali and Terekeka Areas.
From Passion to Professionalism
Recently she has been on the Renk-Joda trail, and in neighboring areas to the north, delivering much needed health aid to people fleeing the crisis in neighboring Sudan.
“I love the way I am becoming a professional driver,” Rejoice said.
She recalls the genesis of her passion, sprouting at a tender age, in Primary Four, while watching a female driver who frequently visited her school.
“I just admired the way the woman drives,” Rejoice said.
“Whenever I was in class, I would open the window and I would want to see how she just did her thing,” she said.
“It all developed in me and I got that much interest in becoming a driver and when chatting with colleagues, I used to tell them that after finishing my studies, I wanted to become a driver.”
Rejoice is a trained driver, completing from ABC driving school in Juba in 2016.
She however has not only been driving. Way back in 2008, she learnt how to ride a motorbike and which skill she used to work as a boda boda (motorcycle taxi) in Juba.
Dominance in Heavy Duties
Women are dominantly taking up engagements that once upon a time was viewed as male duties only.
From construction works, driving, piloting, or running heavy duty machines, women have shown unrivalled proficiency.
In China, which once preferred men only in heavy duty employment, women are now becoming more and more involved.
According to a report citing the Wall Street Journal, women are found working in construction, transportation, and other sectors that have historically been male dominated, leading to greater financial freedom and work flexibility.
Women working in heavy-labor sectors make up a third of the 286 million rural workers not working in the farm sector, it said.
Almost a third of the workers in urban construction sites are now women, according to estimates of researchers studying China’s labor and gender issues, a number that has increased from roughly 10 percent a decade ago.
Overcoming Challenges
For Rejoice, the job too comes with challenges as a result of her being female.
South Sudan is a male dominated society and women are mostly pushed to the backyard and not allowed to explore their talents and fully participate actively in societal development.
Driving is one of those jobs still perceived as a male job that does not befit women but Rejoice dispenses all that in her advice to fellow women and people at large.
Rejoice acknowledges the perception as she faces it in her work.
“Some communities still consider driving to be a profession for men and not suitable for women. I spent time explaining to them that anyone can be a driver. It’s also challenging in terms of being away from the family for extended periods of time but for me, I have a lovely sister who fully takes care of my child,” she said.
“Believe it that women can do anything that men can do. I am now a professional driver, I am taking care of my child and my sibling. I am equally changing perception about women when it comes to driving” Rejoice added.
“You too can do this, the whole thing here is to change your own perception-and there is nothing you cannot do.”
And to unemployed people, “just try to do something that comes your way, something that can help you put food on the table-from there, you will find what else to do” Rejoice added.
