Emirati woman in Sharjah runs car repair garage
‘I like cars and their models and their details. Because I’m on top of my job, and it’s my business, I belong to it: I feel proud of myself,’ says Al Matroushi
Huda Al Matroushi is one of few Emirati women to venture into the car repair business, an industry that has long been dominated by men.
“I enjoy it a lot,” says Matroushi, holding up her oil-stained work glove.
“Because I’m on top of my job, and it’s my business, I belong to it: I feel proud of myself.”
Cars have been a hobby for Matroushi, 36, since childhood.
“I like cars and their models and their details. I like sports cars, I like luxury cars, even normal non-luxury cars, I love them all.”
She turned that passion into a profession and now owns and manages a car repair shop in Sharjah.
Matroushi’s family had doubts about her pursuing a job in car mechanics, but she asked her father to take a leap of faith with her.
“I said: ‘Dad, please trust me and you will see what I will do.’ He said: ‘OK, OK!’. Most of my family are surprised because this project, this business, it’s not easy for ladies,” she said.
Matroushi’s male employee, Mohammed Halawani, said it was initially strange to see a woman in charge of the garage.
“But ater I joined and we started working and she’d tell me: disassemble this, assemble that, [it was clear] that she has experience.”
Matroushi hopes she can transform her single garage into a big repair centre, or open more garages across the UAE.
The UAE stipulates under new legislation that came into effect last month that Uae-based companies must have at least one woman on their board of directors.
Emirates Environmental Group: Separately, the Emirates Environmental Group (EEG) organised the 21st cycle of the annual Inter-school Environmental Public Speaking Competition on 21st & 22nd April 2021, to coincide with the global celebration of Earth Day.
The competition builds on the success of transforming this competition to take place virtually since last year.
The two-day programme registered over 431 participants, including the accompanying teachers, who all came together from various government and private schools across all the Emirates, united in their passion for environmental advocacy to achieve development that is sustainable.
The sub-senior students between the ages of 13 and 15 competed on two topics, “Sustainable Living: A path for a Greener Future?” and “Environment & Education: Need for Change”. Gems Millennium School, Sharjah won in the first topic and Dubai National School, Al Barsha (Boys) was the winner in the second topic.
The second day was for the senior category of students in the age bracket of 16-18.
The Philippine School, Dubai was crowned the winner for the topic “Balancing the 3 Pillars of Sustainability in a Post Pandemic World” and Dubai National School, Al Barsha (Boys) was the winner for the last topic, “Integrating Environment & technology: A Solution to Sustainability?”
The overall winner for the 21st cycle of Inter School Environmental Public Speaking Competition is Dubai National School, Al Barsha (Boys).
The topics chosen for the competition were the result of a rigorous process taking into account the feedback received from last year’s participating teams that was mainly influenced by the pandemic and designed to encompass several UN SDGS.
The topics aimed to encourage the students to consider sustainable lifestyles, the importance of greening the curriculum, to focus on building a more resilient global economy and the profound impact of technology in shaping societies, economies and the environment.
The discussions and presentations provided by the students reflected the immense efforts invested in research and the sense of environmental awareness and understanding of sustainability issues exhibited by the participating teams.
Habiba Al Marashi, Co-founder and Chairperson of EEG, welcomed the participating teams; those who have joined for the first time and those who ensure to enroll their students in all the creative platforms that EEG rolls out annually.
She thanked OUNASS Company for coming on board as a support sponsor and said, “We at EEG are eager this year to embark with positive atitude and strive towards environmental education for the youth.”