BY: Shallon S. Gonlor
NIMBA COUNTY – A young promising lady, and a graduate of the Booker Washington Institute (BWI) in Kakata, Margibi County is changing the narrative of women education, thus breaking the glass walls of gender inequality in Liberia.
Victoria V. Gonto, 23, survived the unspeakable in her native Liberia, including rampant gender-based violence, discrimination, marginalisation, sex for job, and other benefits.
Ms. Gonto, an electrician and mechanic beats the odds joining several other achieving men in the word of technicians to provide technical expertise, education, and contributions to the Liberian electricity sector.
Women Voices Newspaper Monday’s toured at the Jungle Energy Power Head Office in Sanniquellie observed an overwhelming and unmatchable demonstration of women technicrats including Victoria V. Gonto, a Sale Agent and Technician of JEP.
In conversation with our Nimba County Reporter, Ms. Gonto narrated a story of her own struggle and perseverance as a youngster, despite numerous obstacles along the way to success.
According to her, during the struggle for better future, she has encountered both discrimination and gender bias in pursuit of brighter future, coming from a family with financial difficulty.
Victoria V. Gonto said, being the only oldest child for her parents, she was not influenced nor diverted by friends to quit, but was focused on changing the narrative with a specific strategy of becoming a capable and an independent woman for her own survival and wellbeing.
Appointed as Technician and Sale Agent of the Jungle Energy Power, the youthful female has vast knowledge in electricity and mechanic having obtained a certificate in electricity at the Booker Washington Institute (BWI).
Founded 1929, the Booker Washington Institute currently runs two programs, namely the Regular Vocational and Technical Program, and the Accelerated Vocational Training Program.
Ms. Gonto wants her fellow females to be determined, and acquired technical and vocational education if violence against women mostly perpetrated by their male counterpart should be curtailed, adding that she has heard countless stories of women as victims of domestic abuse, job discrimination, lack of access to education and healthcare among others.
The female technician further maintained that she is dedicated to use her education and energy to educate her peers and defend the odds for an improved society that call for zero tolerance, stating that empowering women and girls for a transformational potential is an important initiative.
Ms. Gonto further contended that, gender equality is not only essential for building more inclusive societies, but also accelerate progress on a broad number of development goals from human capital, food security and sustainable growth and development for all in an inclusive society.
She meanwhile averred that fostering gender equality means working to address the norms, attitudes, and beliefs that hold back women and girls, stressing that if the narrative should be changed, the minds and behaviors of men matter.
In a short span of time, the Jungle Energy Power (JEP) has become one of the most admired torchbearers of the fight against gender violence, discrimination in public and private sectors, which JEP stands at the forefront of innovation and progress, offering promising young females an opportunity for a clean, bright, and more sustainable future.
Currently, JEP is providing electricity services to nearly all public and private institutions operating within Nimba and Bong Counties including major concessions.
At the same time, a local non-for-profit organization, Rural Women and Girls Promotor for Sustainable Development (RWGP) says adolescent girls empowerment is critical to ensuring inclusive economic development and transformation in Liberia.
With the highest rates of adolescent fertility in Liberia, the benefits of improving education for women is clear in order to decrease the chances of maternal death and fertility rates by births.
Meanwhile, Rural Women and Girls Promotor for Sustainable Development (RWGP) is scripting a story of resilience, advocacy, and transformation for women and young girls under a project title “Raising Community Voices”.
Based in Sanniquellie City, Nimba County, RWGP is a women-led civil society organization working to protect the right of women and girls with an overarching goal to secure rural women and girl’s livelihoods, rights and resilience in the context of sustainable development.
Jointly supported by Plan International-Liberia, and Irish Aid among others, RWGP early this year 2023 embarked on a mission to empower young girls and adolescent women through an awareness campaign on education, centering around issues confronting girls and women, especially child marriage.
It is illegal for girls under the age of 18 to marry in Liberia, but the practice still continues in many parts of Liberia, mainly due to traditions and poverty.
In recent days, it has been a moment of jubilation and a scene of attraction as the result of a colourful graduation of sixty females comprised of 15 girls and 45 women each from six communities in Nimba County under the project title: “Raising Community Voices”.
The women-led organization has carried out its 4th cohort of graduation after training and mentoring young girls and adolescent women in diverse social norms to take an oath to say no to child marriage, getting involved in community decision making, advocacy initiatives, and educating women on their rights.
