Girls learn tricks of the trade
MIDRAND - A company in Midrand hosted Raymond Mhlaba Secondary School girls from Roodepoort, as part of the take-a-girl-child-to-work campaign.
The campaign is an initiative of mobile service piovider Cell C, to give opportunities that will inspire and empower schoolgirls. BioMerieux and partner organisation, Amersham opened their doors to show the girls what to expect in the field of science and medicine.
Business unit manager for industry division at BioMerieux, Ursula Gorniak said the company trained laboratory technicians. “We are glad to have the girls shadow us today as we have the best application specialists in the industry,” she said.
“It is important to empower young girls so that they can grow up to have equal opportunities as boys when they enter the work world. Our intention today is to make the girls aware that they are phenomenal and can follow any career they choose.”
Product specialist at Amersham, Areeve Oliver said the experience would hopefully make the girls excited about science. “So many schoolgirls think science or medicine is a male only industry,” she said. “We are here to give the girls a sneak peak into what a life in science could be like.”
The girls seemed very excited to learn about the Elisa Test used in testing for HIV, paternity tests, pregnancy tests, and learning about ways of handling and testing blood and urine samples, among others. Most of the girls said they wanted to be biologists, paramedics, gynaecologists or dieticians.
Pupil, Teddy Motswiri was excited about one aspect of the experience. She said, “I have always wondered about albinism. Today I have learnt a lot that will help me understand the condition better.”
Thandiwe Somniso, a teacher at Raymond Mhlaba Secondary School said she was excited that the girls have had more exposure. “This is a new experience for them, it will shape their sphere of life and help them decide what path to take.”
