IN FRANCINE BELGRAVE’S childhood home, there were no girl jobs or boy jobs.
Francine grew up with four brothers and in her father’s eyes, she was equal among them, so she wasn’t fazed when she became the lone female electrical engineer at Portvale Sugar Factory.
She lives by the code that anything a man can do, a woman can as well.
“My father never said, ‘Well Francine, you are a girl and you can’t do this or do that’. We had livestock and all of us had to deal with them and up to now I still have a bull cow.
“When my father wanted the boys to come and do things and he couldn’t find them because they were out playing, he would call on me and tell me to climb this tree or put up this paling.”
Because of that upbringing, she is comfortable working in a male-dominated field and is pleased that her workmates at Portvale do not make her feel like a lesser being. (SB)
Please read the full story in today’s MIDWEEK NATION, or in the eNATION edition.
