Pakistan is home to oodles of talent, and the country’s women are no exception. Meet Uzma Nawaz, one of the few female car mechanics in the country.
Hailing from Dunyapur, a small town of South Punjab, Uzma grew up with a passion for cars. Seeing her passion her father, a farmer, pushed her for studies, and she completed a degree in mechanical engineering.
Reflecting on her hard work and financial hurdles, she said:
I mostly relied on scholarships and often skipped meals to save money for transportation.
Following her degree, Uzma followed her passion and against all the odds, landed a job at Toyota Motors’ workshop in Multan.
I took it up as a challenge against all the odds and the meager financial resources of my family.
With sheer hard work and dedication, she was soon promoted to general repairs. She can now easily change tires, inspect engines, and handle a variety of tools like a pro.
After picking up a wrench, Uzma has mainly faced two reactions from costumers: shock and surprise, and then a bit of respect.
“When they see me doing this type of work, they are astonished,” she said, adding that nothing shakes her confidence and will.
Even Uzma’s co-workers appreciate her expertise and passion for work.
“Whatever task we give her, she does it like a man with hard work and dedication,” said co-worker M Attaullah.
Speaking of her expertise at work, the 25-year-old mechanical engineer claims that she can identify the fault from the sound of the vehicle.
Uzma’s father, Muhammad Nawaz, says despite the patriarchal society’s taunts and stereotypes, he is happy for her success.
Our society does not encourage girls to work at workshops, it doesn’t seem nice, but it is her passion, and I am very happy about it.
wow this girl is an inspiration for all of us especially narrow-minded people
would someone would happily send their mother, daughter or sister to car mechanic?????? not in USA
You cant sell narrow-minded all the time
Being an Industrial engineer myself, it’s very rare to see females on a shop floor working like this. Most of them just get a degree to help them get married.
Lets be clear that it has got more to do with how our society behaves and less to do with the girls themselves.
Awesome… Even my daughter is studying to be a Mechatronic Engineer… Keep it up high.
Inspiration for all girls who choose engineering…
What a pity that she has worked for CarFirst who has given her a lot of roam to grow and excel and she has not said a single word about it. I would also refer to the writer of this article that you must have researched about her before writing.
I request GOP to provide her proper job in Government sector which is easy and comfortable and require less work.
Narrow minded vs open-minded has nothing do to here
this is brutal for women, my new tires were mounted by a women here in USA, she was very very tired because of weight of equipment and force required and this was her first job in the morning
chemicals used by such industries are bad for health and for reproduction system
Men are putting their jobs on women shoulders and fooling them into believe its their “right”
Women get best protection, rights, treatment and respect in Islam – issue in Pakistan is our culture which many think falsely as religion
Agreed such kind of jobs are not suited for females it can cause serious heath issue and injuries .
We should all respect her dedication as working as a female mechanical engineer in the auto industry is a tough challenge which she is doing well. She should be a role models for girls in other so far male dominated fields, especially in S&T.
isn’t this a pity that being a mechanical engineer she is doing a job of car mechanic? She should be doing a job which is worthy of her degree.