I remember the mournful aura of my friend when she came into my arms that afternoon. The reasons were not trivial, she was going through the streak of being a woman and studying a career usually dominated by "men."
Telecommunications is not easy, it never has been, and in that universe -which is ours- she had to face derogatory, sexist comments, which were digging in her insecurity, longing, sometimes, to have been born in another body.
I know women engineers; I know about the challenges many of them face. However, to reach Mayelin Gainza Vega was to experience that apparent normality of a woman of the workshop, of machines and substances, which my friend could not have.
Finding her in a production plant or an oil refinery does not surprise anyone when searching for her. Mayelin's character is a bit rough for some people, but she has a sublime humanity in her. She studied Chemical Engineering and currently works as head of the commercial area of the Territorial Division of Fuel Commercialization in Havana.
"My responsibility is to guarantee the distribution of the product we have in the company to the provinces of Artemisa, Havana and Mayabeque."
She tells me about the simplicity of her first years as a graduate: "I left Cujae and joined this division in 1997. I spent about six months reading, documenting myself on the procedures of fuel installations."
He stayed for about a year in the Technical Directorate, then says he moved to the storage base, and is currently the General Manager's reserve.
She explains that she has never felt discriminated against for being a woman engineer in a man's world. However, one of the main difficulties "are the work-home-family conflicts she has to deal with.”
She, like many female workers, has had to attend work with her children and, once her workday is over, continue working at home.
When asked what advice she would give to other women who want to dedicate themselves to the world of engineering, Mayelin urges them to try: "I think it is rewarding, especially when you look back and see all that you have achieved. I feel proud and, even though sometimes I want to throw in the towel, I tell myself that I have to keep going.”
