No challenge too big for these women

There is no mountain too high, no challenge too big for the female employees of the Working on Fire (WoF) programme.

According to WoF, this winter fire season was the worst one the country has seen in seven years, but fear is still not in their vocabulary. In Mpumalanga, firefighters had to extinguish more than 400 fires which destroyed an estimated 20 000ha in multiple life-threatening veld and forest fires.

You would think that it’s a man’s world out there, but the women at WoF consider themselves equally important and just as strong. Nationally the WoF programme has recruited 29 percent women which is the highest ratio worldwide in the firefighting industry. They have been afforded the opportunity to provide the basic necessities for their families, ensuring that job opportunities are being created to alleviate poverty in the province.

It is also an essential programme that restores the dignity of these women by enabling them to provide for their families, because most of them are breadwinners.

Apart from putting their lives in danger to put food on the table, they also dedicate their lives to saving other people and protecting the environment.

They regard themselves as superwomen, and find great satisfaction in helping other people. “Women have to work for themselves, and learn to be independent,” says Busiswe Mkhonto, type-2 crew leader who has been with the program since 2011. “Women can also do this, and being a woman in a man’s world earns you loads of respect and it’s very uplifting. The programme gives you the opportunity to be whoever you want to be.”

Zodwa Msimango, an assistant pilot who has been with the programme for more than six years, says that it has uplifted her from extreme poverty, and gave her the opportunity to look after her family. She takes great pride in her achievements and aims to go even higher.

Thina Gwebu, WoF health and safety representative, employed since 2010, also chose this job to support her family and to have a better life – she has great plans for her career.

Constance Mavuso, who also joined the group in 2010, chose this job because it gave her the opportunity to become whoever she wants to be. “It keeps women off the streets and prevents us from doing nothing, expecting our lives to improve by themselves.”

According to Linton Rensburg, WoF communications manager, the training provided in the WoF programme is modelled on international best practice and has transformed formerly unskilled youth into productive members of their communities.

“Our female firefighters undergo the same basic and advanced training as our men, as they face exactly the same situations on a fire line as the men. There is no distinction in training as both our women and men fire fighters would need the same basic skills to be able to operate safely at a fire line.

These female fire fighters perform the same fire suppression activities on a fire line as their male counterparts. In WoF we currently have around 160 female crew leaders stationed at teams throughout the country where they lead a firefighting team of 25 people. These women crew leaders have all undertaken an extensive female crew leader training programme,” says Rensburg.

The women are not only general firefighters but the programme makes sure that they are promoted as crew leaders in either type two or type one. They are trained to become motivated firefighters who are able to operate safely and efficiently and are also taught key leadership skills which gives them the ability to lead a professional firefighting team in dangerous and unpredictable work environments.

These heroes wish to convey the following message to all the women who struggle to make a living and start to lose hope. “It’s never too late to give up. At WoF we start at the bottom, and that is very important in order to appreciate everything you’ve got and to eventually achieve your goal. Even the biggest house has to have a strong foundation. Money isn’t everything.”