(ERGO) – At the age of 17, Najah Mohamed Ige is not only the main breadwinner for her family, but also the pioneer female tuk-tuk taxi driver in the streets of Borama, in Somaliland.
She makes about $20 a day running her own tuk-tuk taxi that supports her mother and three younger siblings’ meals and education.
“I put aside $10 for the tuk-tuk, $3 for myself and $7 for my family. I start work at 7:00 or 8:00 am and stop in the evening. My mother used to work for us but she got sick. Now I support the family. I thought I should work and let my younger siblings go to school,” Najah explained.
Last October, her mother became ill with an undiagnosed disease that affected her head and eyes. She became too sick to continue her job as a broker in Borama livestock market.
With debts mounting, Najah decided to learn how to drive. She drove other people’s tuk-tuks for two months then took out a loan to buy her own three-wheeler taxi.
“When people noticed that I was hardworking, my friends encouraged me and helped me pay the deposit for the tuk-tuk. I saved up some money while I was a driver and my friends helped me take a new loan from the company,” she said.
Her tuk-tuk cost $3,000 and she has already paid off $2,200.
The downside of her working success is that she had to forgo her own education. She dropped out of school in grade six as she couldn’t find time to take in both working for her family and school. However, she hopes to resume her education once she has paid off her loan.
Najah’s mother, Hibo Ahmed Ali, said their situation forced her daughter to start working in the taxi business, which is rare for women in Borama. But she is happy her daughter has been helpful to the family.
“At first it seemed like a bad idea, when she was learning she even had an accident and injured her leg. I got scared and told her to stay at home. Then I couldn’t stop her, and I’m happy she has been supportive. A son or daughter, whatever God gives you is a blessing. The younger children were suspended from school [because of fees deficit] and we were all just staying at home, so she has supported them,” Najah’s mother said.
Najah is the fourth of seven children. Among her three older siblings, two are unemployed and one was arrested in Borama for theft. Her mother has been raising the family alone since 2019 when her father died of an unknown illness.
Now that her mother is sick and cannot afford medical diagnosis or treatment, the family’s hopes lie with this hardworking daughter.
Najah is the only female tuk-tuk driver in Borama and has attracted mixed reactions among local people and passengers. Some are amazed at her courage and others are thoroughly disapproving.
As women drivers are considered strange in Borama let alone commercial taxi drivers, many people on the road remind her that it is indecent for her to be driving.
“I tell them no one should stop a person from getting to their dream. But when someone is stigmatised, they could lose hope. I want to tell the young women, those who have work and those who don’t, that they should pursue whatever they can,” Najah riposted.
One of her regular passengers, Abwan Ibrahim Mumin, a teacher and musician in Borama, lauds Najah’s dedication and considers her as a trendsetter and an inspiration for other young women. He boards her tuk-tuk whenever he sees her in the streets and encourages her to continue.
“I tell her to continue on her path, she could one day go beyond tuk-tuks and own cars!” Abwan said.
