What a time to be alive! Women are filling all the spaces they said we couldn’t. Though these spaces are still predominantly male, or still deal with the pay gap and sexism in the workplace we are still proud of how far we’ve come. This month we celebrate women who inspire us to be what we dream to be. Prudence Shipandeni, a Minining Engineer at NAMDEB, is one of these amazing women. She speaks to us about her journey.
Happy read.
So who is Prudence?
I am Ndapewoshali Prudence Shipandeni, family and friends call me Pewa. I turn ‘dirty thirty’ (30) in April, and I am super excited about it, I just recently started with my “bucket list for my 30’s”.
I was born in Upington, South Africa and raised in Upington, Arandis and Kimberley. I attended five (5) Primary schools due to my parents moving about for work, but I was fortunate to meet one of my closest friends all those years back. Moving around taught me to stand up for myself, you kind of have to when you are the new kid for 5 consecutive years.
I graduated from the Polytechnic of Namibia (now NUST) with a BEng degree in Mining and work as Mining Engineer for Namdeb at the Orange River Mines (Sendelingsdrif and Daberas).
I love my job; I love working with people, I love execution of a good plan and continuously improving and trying to out shine my previous achievements
When and how did you discover you wanted to be an engineer?
The places I grew up in influenced my career choice; I was always interested in Mining and Engineering. Growing up in Kimberley, I was fascinated by the Big Hole (famous for being the biggest man-made excavation), it is beautiful and it is man-made.
I was supposed to register for 2nd year when I heard people talking about the introduction of Mining Engineering at Poly, 2 days later; I came home and told my parents I would be registering to study Mining Engineering, meaning I would be first year.
They were not impressed.
What were the difficulties faced in penetrating the engineering industry?
My biggest challenge was getting my team to trust me to lead them. I am blessed with a very diverse team in terms of age and background. How you communicate with a 20 year old is definitely, not how you communicate with the team member who is almost 60 years old, that being said the basis is respect and transparency.
I gained respect and trust by working shifts with my team for six (6) months. Please understand, night shift in winter is no joke, and come 2am sleep comes calling, but endure you must.
There really are things school cannot teach us, respect and being humble without being a push over.
What are the untapped professions in the mining industry that can be tapped into by the youth?
I would like more women to tap into continuous business improvement and Research and Development. I can only imagine the machinery we will be using to mine in future.
In your opinion, what are the advantages of being a female engineer?
I think women are more observant than men are; this also aids us in leadership roles. We can quickly pin point strengths and weaknesses, as a result, we get the right person to do the job
What are the lessons you have learnt along the way?
My people skills have drastically improved through the nearly four (4) years at NAMDEB, slow to speak and quick to listen. NAMDEB has also given me the opportunity to learn from my mistakes (growing pains) and I will forever be grateful for this.
What are the defining characteristics needed to survive in a male dominated field?
Do not allow anyone to undermine you, and be clear of your expectations.
Do you believe that we can attain a fully feminist world?
Yes. People just need to realize that you cannot just want feminism to work for your nearest and dearest. You should want feminism to work for all.
What are the hard truths behind the mining industry in relation to women?
You constantly have to prove yourself worthy of the same respect your male counterparts get. It is ridiculous and I hope we can squash this.
What can we do to encourage more young girls to enter into the mining industry?
We need to share our achievements with young girls. Job shadowing is an avenue we need to explore more, so young girls can see first-hand what we do as Mining Engineers, we do not mine using picks and hand held shovels.
What/who inspires you?
- My parents, for teaching me that it is not about where I come from that matters
- The Operators I work with, for their persistence and continuously teaching me
- My friends, because:
- They are smart and their ambition makes me work for ALL I want
- They dust themselves off through sorrow and for never failing to ask ‘Wont he do it?’ when bragging about God’s goodness.
- They run their own businesses and
- For kicking butt in male dominated fields
