Dalia Soda

Dalia Soda is one of three female water pump mechanics in the Salima District in Malawi. The other 25 male mechanics consider Soda one of the best on staff — male or female. She uses her bike to travel to the different WaterAid pumps around the region. The job has allotted her funds to build a house and to pay for all seven of her children’s school fees.

Curator’s note: The following is an excerpt of Dalia Soda’s story as told to WaterAid staff in June 2016.

I will visit each village about three times a year, in which time I get to know the families quite well. I knew this village before the borehole came, because we were mobilising people to contribute something towards the borehole. Before the borehole came they were collecting water from the lake. A lot has changed in this village now [that] the borehole is here. The villagers have a lot of time to come and collect water and engage in other activities at home. Every household has now got a toilet, they no longer use the bush and they are using the toilets with a slab. A lot of houses have also changed over time, but you see some of them are not yet up to date because people are still working in the farms.

I can remember that I was one of the volunteers who’d just go around and work without asking for any pay in our village. So people liked me because my volunteer work was even at the hospital — I would do all the work there. I have seen a lot of benefits from my volunteer work. When I started, I would be part of the group that was building the wells and the water people would pay me 500 Kwacha. In total, I have done 100 toilets and out of that I have earned 50,000 — with which I have built a very good house.

In Salima, I am 1 of only 3 female pump mechanics. There are a lot of men. In total, we are 28 mechanics out of which three are women. The men think of me as one of the best mechanics. But to me I take it like it’s something I need to do just to help — I’m just like any other woman. In general, the people really accepted me as a female mechanic. Of course, there are some chiefs who are somehow reserved when they see me work in the wells. But the team has always been on my side wherever there is a reservation about me and they’d come in and give me support.

My status has changed because of what I have done, but I can’t say it’s because I do the work daily, because as it happens, people just call me when there is that work needed — so it is not a daily thing. But a lot has changed in my life because of this job.

I like being a pump mechanic because when I’m cold I know that when I go and work I’ll find some money which I can use to buy food for my children. I also like my job because I know whatever I do I can give the people clean water. I don’t like it when there is a breakdown people are not reporting because I would like to get the report as quick as possible so that people have the water quickly. The worst part about my job is traveling to the boreholes to fix them. Sometimes the borehole can be 15 kilometers away. I mostly walk, but sometimes I use a bike if the bike is there.

My home village has always had clean water, but at the moment it is dried up because the borehole isn’t deep enough to reach the water level. I am unable to help this situation and currently forced to buy from other households that have got piped water or even the water board here. There is only one household in my village that has piped water. To get piped water, you have to pay something at the water board and then the water board people are going to bring the taps. It costs a lot of money, so a person like me cannot afford it.

I need to visit each and every borehole 3 times a year. So it depends on which one I start, but every 3 or 4 months I visit the borehole. However, when there’s a breakdown I go immediately. So that doesn’t follow a schedule. Roughly 4 or 5 times a month I’ll have to go out and fix a borehole. I’ve always generally been able to do the fix. Something I fear is if the owners have not yet bought the spares. But, if they have everything I can fix it.

When I first started the job as a pump mechanic, it looked hard because at first I would see what the real mechanics were doing and I wouldn’t understand. But when they gave me the training they saw that I could do it. When I realized I could do it, I liked it and I was very happy about it. I’m still very excited up to this moment because whenever the district commissioner has visitors that need to look at the boreholes, the district will send someone to my home. So I’m well known and I’m happy about this.

I don’t have a husband. I was married, but we got divorced. I have seven children. My children are very proud of me. Actually at my house, the cars would come again and again and when they look at me they see me as someone that is just so worthy, but I thank God, because God is the one that has given me this. My oldest child is married and my youngest is 12. Only two are still in school. They are three boys and four girls.

My job has had some impact on their lives because in school I have managed to pay the high amount of school fees. I’m hoping my children should continue with school and I know when they are done with school, they are going to take care of me in the future. I hope that they will choose what they want to do. I take one of my sons around with me when I’m working. When I’m doing the repairs he sees what I’m doing and he can help me fix them as well. He is 19 years old. I’d be very happy if one of my children wanted to be a pump mechanic because I know it is going to be of service to a lot of the people in the community.

I don’t have any pumps to fix right now. But I have a plan to visit one of the boreholes soon. The water table has gone down so I need to join the pipe so that the pipe is a little bit longer than the one that is currently there. A typical fix is changing either the rubber, the bush bearing or even the rods. Actually in October, I have a lot of problems because the water table is very low and a lot of people are calling so I will be moving up and down following this. The boreholes have issues but the oldest one is 25 years. They can last a long time.

The communities feel fine paying 5000 Kwacha a month for upkeep because when they are faithful in paying their contribution I just come and repair it and go back. So I don’t ask any extra amount from them. Some communities don’t pay the regular fee because either they just don’t want to or they don’t really have a big problem. But the issue is that when they call me to repair I charge them more than the 5000.

The prospect of me retiring is why I thought of moving around with my son so that whenever I can’t do any further repairs, he can take over.

Photo credit: WaterAid/Alexia Webster