Women complete auto mechanics workshop...

“Under the bonnet was off limits to us and it was the men who set the limits for us and we are now on familiar grounds,” James-Morton said in delivering the welcome remarks during the ceremony at the Keys Community Centre.

She said the young women were graduating from dependence on male partners or mechanics to independence.

“We do not have to play the role of the damsel in distress and wait on a man to pass by and change our flats, we can do it ourselves. It warms our hearts to know that our accomplishments are celebrated by other women,” James-Morton, who challenged the men in the room to lift any car bonnet and ask them to identify the parts of the car engine, said.

The creator of the course, Aimee Inniss, representing the course facilitator, Sgt. Royston Griffin of the St. Kitts/Nevis Coast Guard, said it was organised as a result of her own ignorance and fear of her vehicle.

“And I thought to myself that if I have all these fears and do not know about my vehicle, I am sure there are several other women, who do too,” Inniss said.

The course first started with eight people and concluded with 16 women successfully completing the course. Inniss was high in praise for the course instructor Sgt. Griffin.

“He was very eager, very loyal and very dedicated and stuck with us and he answered so many questions,” Inniss, who added that the eight-week course comprised theory on Wednesdays and practical on Thursdays, said.

Areas covered in the course included engine pre-check, history of vehicles and identification of operating parts, basic operation of the engine, vehicle first aid, changing the tires, use of the transmission, use of the foot and safety brakes, the purpose of the battery, an outline of the cooling system, an outline of the lubricating system and practical evaluation.

The graduating students are Jennifer Archibald, Sylvia May Archibald, Cheryl Boyles, Agatha Caines, Jasmine Clarke, June James-Morton, Angela Maltay-Cornelius, Sandra Morton, Patricia Davis-Paul, Amanda Pemberton, Carol Pemberton, Murene Pemberton, Verna Pemberton, Kirsten Richards, Lillian Salters and Eveta Somersall.

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