Before  Eliza was the confident and skilled painter she is now, she had other plans and goals for her life.  “I have never imagined myself  being a painter, growing up I dreamt of being a tailor but due to lack of finances and support I wasn’t able to continue my secondary education so I ended up doing household work to support myself.” Says Eliza.

However, This was not all that she wanted. Her dreams of becoming a tailor were still persistent so she ventured to work in tailor shops by delivering clothes, with bills to pay and dreams to follow. She worked hard but she wasn’t earning enough income. After a while she was introduced by her friend to house painting, promising her a good income.

“I knew that it might be challenging by taking it on, and I now have 3 painting certificates from Coral and Kiboko.” She continued, “When I got my first job as a painter everything went well and the pay was good but as I got more into the industry that’s when I started facing challenges as a woman. I persevered because this work is good for me and I  get to pay my bills. Nevertheless, In my line of work I have been rejected, faced with sexist/sexual comments because of my gender, that’s why most women are afraid to join this line of work because they are afraid of the challenges they will face.

As a painter, time is our biggest challenge, we always get paid late or never get paid at all for the jobs we have done and apart from being a woman, as a ‘fundi’ we are also looked down upon. I thank God that It was about this time that I came across Toolboksi. Toolboksi has helped me get access to work and also I get to be paid on time.

My job as a painter has given me respect for myself, among my co-workers and people in society. I advise my fellow women to take on painting even if they are looking for job opportunities and shouldn’t stay in their comfort zones to do work only women can do. Know your worth and believe that you can do it.

I like to advise the government to continue giving opportunities to women, they should also take a closer look at women in informal sectors who work in “ufundi” to be also given opportunities even in construction or any government-related projects because we are here, we can do it given the opportunities.

She concluded by saying thanks to Toolboksi, she has been able to break her limitations and get the jobs she had trouble getting before. She would like to inspire more women like her and she hopes they will be more platforms that will help women grow in the informal sector by encouraging them not to shy away from manual labour such as “ufundi.”