A female train driver from Cameroon, who has defied the odds to become a pioneering figure in a male-dominated profession, encourages young women across the country to pursue their dreams despite the challenges.
Known affectionately as the "Night Queen of the Rails", Sandrine Nyambon stands out as one of the few women in Cameroon's rail industry, blazing a trail in a male-dominated sector.
She works for Camrail, a company operating passenger and freight traffic in the country.
Each day, Nyambon leaves her family behind to head to one of the main train stations in Yaoundé, capital of Cameroon, where she begins her routine.
"You visit the locomotive and make sure that everything is fine and that there are no worries. As soon as you've finished, you go back to your supervisor to tell him you're done. The supervisor then gives you the paper confirming that the track is clear and that you can go on to the other station. So, all the conditions are met for you to go to the other station, and the supervisor authorizes you to leave," she explained.
The early days of her career were challenging for her family, as her husband and children initially struggled to accept her role as a train driver.
"It took my husband a while to understand, and even the children complained at first, and were always looking for Mom. But then they got used to it, and now they are the ones chasing me out of the house, like "Mom, are you not going to work". It's a routine now, they know that Mum's going to go out and be away perhaps for two days. They've already got the hang of it," Nyambon said.
For Nyambon, her journey is not merely about breaking gender barriers; it's also about inspiring the next generation. As a female train driver, she embodies a shift in societal norms and serves as a beacon of hope for young girls who might have once considered such careers out of reach.
"I've already got used to the idea that it's a job like any other. I started and realized that I could. So, when you already know you can, you take away the fact that it's a job reserved for men. There's no such thing as a men-only job, maybe there is, but if you can already do this kind of work, that means there's nothing men-only about it," she said.
Cameroonian female train driver breaks barriers in male-dominated profession, inspiring future generations
