I’m an engineer first, then a woman

Gloria Mercy is a leader of the cranes and crushers area, leading 33 men, most of whom are older than her. Her duties revolve around power supply, distribution and power protection in the plant.

Together with her colleague, Alfred, she is responsible for two substations and the two emergency generator plants. “Electricity without control is dangerous, so, I have embarked on fully understanding automation hence the PLC Trainings and my involvement in plant projects and automation works,” she says.

Your name is strange for a Ugandan
I met my father a few years ago, so my mother couldn’t give me a surname.

Actually, Mercy was given to me by the midwife who attended to my mother during her C-section. She thought none of us would survive the ordeal. I was only named Nabukenya recently.

Was your career path direct?
Not really. My mother wanted me to become a doctor but I found my Biology lessons boring, apart from the topic on reproduction.

What obstacles did you have to overcome?
During my Senior Six, I was a day scholar because my mother could not afford the hostel fees. There was always housework to be done.

So, I had to work harder than my peers who had night and morning preps. When I joined Makerere University my uncle offered to meet my education costs.

What has made you stand out?
I’m an engineer first before I’m woman. This has helped me develop an open mind, especially when given tasks nobody wants to do.

Besides, being the only female engineer at Hima Cement made me yearn to have another woman on the team.

When I was invited to the panel interviewing graduate engineers, I selected another brilliant young girl, so now there are two of us.

How did you end up handling high voltage?
In electricity, there is low current and high voltage. Because I love working on big things, I chose the high voltage. I work with a 24 DC power supply, used in heavy duty machines. Someone once told me that “if you have power you cannot control, it is useless.”

When I had just come in, everyone wondered if I could handle the high voltage. I have also been trained in how to use low current.

Are there any childhood experiences that shaped who you are today?
I’m a tomboy so I played with boys, breaking and fixing things. I watched war movies. At eight, I told my mother that I wanted to be a sniper when I grew up. She almost cried.

I did not like Mathematics because I performed so poorly in it. But in Primary Three, one of my teachers, Mr Kyemya, explained mathematical problems in relation to everyday life.

He encouraged us to solve five problems a day. My grades improved drastically that year from 36 to 80 per cent.

My stepfather, the late Eddy Bagenda, was so happy when I came third in my class that he bought me many gifts. Whenever he found me doing homework, he would buy me ice cream to motivate me. As I grew up, I looked up to Winnie Byanyima because she is an engineer.

Do you feel at a disadvantage because of your gender?
To the contrary, everyone wants to help me. My colleagues believe they are superior, so they are always offering to teach me new things. When I was still a trainee, whenever a foreman would go on leave, we were left in charge. This helped me build my confidence.

Why are there few women in this field?
It’s about attitude. From a young age, girls take the attitude that mathematics and science subjects are for boys; they are too stressing.
Also, there are few role models to inspire young girls. There are many female lawyers and doctors but there are few female electrical engineers to look up to.

How many women were in your class?
At the university, my year had 76 students and only nine of these were female. They all graduated and are working, although some switched to the laboratory side of the profession.

Is it different in other countries?
No. In August last year, I was at a plant in Poland for two weeks and I was the only woman there.

All the men were excited to see me and I was wondering about how even in Europe, women are not so enthusiastic about electrical engineering. There were many women but they were in the laboratory doing the chemical part of the job.

Has Hima ever had any other women engineers?
Ten years ago, there were two engineers, one mechanical, the other electrical, but they all switched to the commercial department.

Then, four years ago, there was one mechanical engineer, who came in for a short time and left. Most of the women work in the laboratory, production and administration departments.

What lessons have you learnt in the course of your work?
I can only be respected when I respect others.
When things get out of hand, I call up my best friend who is an engineer in UMEME. Sometimes, I call my mother. When it is my week on duty, I’m on call 24/7.

Nowadays, I warn her in advance when I’m going to have one of those days. There is a gentleman I work with who is 54 and about to retire. He encourages me. Sometimes, I have to move on top of a crane and wear protective gear.

He keeps on telling me that he has worked in the factory all his life and his limbs are still intact.

What are your future plans?
I want to keep on learning more because in my profession, practical skills matter. When I joined this company, I wrote a personal development plan for my career, with a specific timeline. I’m grateful that the company is helping me achieve it.
I would like to pursue a Master’s degree in Engineering Management and get married to my boyfriend at some point.

Mercy had passion and the right attitude

Topher Atuhurira, career development manager - Hima Cement Ltd;

“I first interviewed Mercy during the recruitment drive for graduate trainee engineers towards the end of 2012. As Human Resource Manager then, I was responsible for identifying, hiring and developing our talent.

What really struck me about Mercy was her interest in heavy electrical engineering. Most of her peers had had internships with telecom companies but were seeking to cross over to heavy industrial operations.

As a recruiter, I was not only interested in candidates that fitted our selection criteria but additionally had the attitude and passion.
Having joined our business in April 2013, Mercy is already a valuable asset for our company. I am optimistic that she will continue to be for the long term.

She has completed the Cement Professional Development Programme in less than 2 years and has undergone additional training in cement plants in Poland, Kenya and South Africa.
I am proud of what she has achievements so far and want her to challenge herself more.”

Education and work
Mercy went to Old Kampala Primary School, Old Kampala Secondary School, and Mengo Secondary School. In 2008, she joined Makerere University for a Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering.

She joined Hima Cement Limited on the Graduate Engineer Trainee Programme in the same year and in July 2013, joined the Cement Professional Development Programme at the Mombasa Training School. She would do practical assignments at Hima for a few months, then travel to Mombasa for lectures.

In 2014, Mercy attended the Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) training at Siemens in South Africa. She also studied a course in Variable Speed Drivers.

Titbits
Gloria Mercy was born on October 9, 1989, to Muhamad Bukenya, a businessman and Ellen Businge currently a secretary at Victoria High School in the Kampala surburb of Nansana.

My innovation
My graduation project was to mitigate power theft. As engineers, it is our duty to design solutions to solve societal problems. My project technology, once installed, compares the current from the pole and that coming out of the customer’s electrical meter.

If there was a difference, it means to customer is stealing power.

At this point the power is switched off automatically. Because of this project, I was invited to the World Engineering Education Forum in Argentina in 2012, as the only African student.

My idea was not adopted by UMEME, but I’m currently pursuing a patent for my innovation, in case another company comes up and it is interested in it in the future.

Leadership tips
If you’re a woman leading a team at work;
• Do not be bossy
• Get to know your teammates
• Ask after their families and life in general
• When assigning tasks, do not command. Instead request them to do it • Sometimes you must be tough especially with lazy employees
• Feedback is vital. If you follow up with management for them, even if you do not succeed give them feedback.