There are very few areas in the workforce that can still be considered completely male-dominated. For decades women have been infiltrating traditional male workplaces, breaking through glass ceilings, and paving the way for other like-minded females to prove their worth in a male world.

For two dedicated women, the struggle is a little fresher, as only recently were they able to break through the proverbial barrier to prove to society that they are just as good at their jobs as any man.

Garbage collection is one of those things that most women would pass off as distinctly a man’s job, but Janet Smith sees it as a means to put a roof over her children’s heads, food in their mouths, and a way to give them a proper education. Ms Smith is not your average mother of four.

She usually works from 7.30 a.m. until 2.30 p.m. or longer, depending on when her work is complete. Her day starts at 5.30 each morning, when she gets up to feed her children and helps them to get ready for school.

“It hasn’t been easy, it’s been a rough road,” she concedes. “When you’re leaving early and the children don’t have to leave until later, sometimes it’s mind boggling.”

She continues: “They don’t like my getting up early at all, but they know that right now it’s a must. But it’s getting easier.”

Ms Smith’s children are the most important thing in her life, and she says one of the sole reasons she got her “act together” and prayed for God to give her a second chance.

“For a time in my life I was going through trials and tribulations, some of it caused by myself, some of it pushed upon me. I didn’t have my children with me,” she recalls. “So I wrote a letter to God asking for a stable job, my children back home with me under one roof, my own home to put them in, and a husband.”

Ms Smith found work in a restaurant but it was not enough. She mentioned to her friend, Malaika Butler-Douglas, that she needed a better job. Mrs. Butler-Douglas returned to Ms Smith that afternoon with an application for a position at the recycling plant at Devon Springs, where she soon started as a contract worker.

When a position at Marsh Folly Bulky and Horticultural Waste Depot opened up, Ms Smith applied.

“It wasn’t easy,” she reveals. “But at the end of the day I was successful.”

At the time Ms Smith applied for work at Marsh Folly, the site was not equipped with a proper facility for women.

“There had been a lady who worked there years before me, but she didn’t stay long,” she explains. “After she left there weren’t any other women except for the lady that works in the office, so they didn’t have a bathroom facility or showers for women.”

Regardless of this, Ms Smith became the only female labourer at Marsh Folly in 1998.

So how does she feel about being surrounded by men all day?

“It feels good. All the males here are like big brothers, uncles, and fathers,” she says fondly.

“I learn a lot about myself as far as being a woman and dealing with different situations. They make me feel good.”

Although the work can be strenuous at times, Ms Smith admits that she finds the biggest obstacle to be that of the public and getting them to understand the importance of her job.

“There are so many different things that we go through,” she reveals.

“The level of disrespect that the workers get on the road because people are in a hurry. We get cussed at and people have thrown things.

“You have to have a firm mentality and to be able to learn to walk away or try to just let it slide for the day.”

As for the public’s reaction of her, most people are either unperturbed or are amazed at the fact that a woman is driving the trash truck. But the feedback has not always been positive.

“One of my first experiences, when I was still a labourer, I was up at St. Monica’s Mission and there were a couple of gentlemen hanging out on the wall,” she recalls.

“One of them shouted, ‘Look at that girl on the back of that truck! She’s got to be a real whore.’ That broke my spirit. I was stunned because I came to this job for stability.”

When Ms Smith took the job, she had a meeting with the men and outlined her intentions.

“I let them all know I didn’t come here to make friends. I didn’t come here to pick up a lover, a boyfriend nor a husband,” she says.

“I came here to feed my children and pay my bills so society could leave me alone. They respected me after I told them that.”

Ms Smith is comfortable where she is, buoyed by her faith, her family, and her wonderful colleagues. Although she may not have found a house of her own, she has her children back, which for her is the best thing to have come out of the situation.

And she may not have landed a husband, but she has found a “beautiful partner”, Christopher Williamson, who helped to change her life and attitude.

She feels blessed and expresses her deepest gratitude to God, Malaika Butler-Douglas, to those who encouraged her, and to those who did not: “The negative helped me to become positive.”

Ms Smith’s advice to women interested in breaking the female/male divide in the workforce: “Respect yourself as a woman first. If you can respect yourself as a woman then any job that you go on, the men will learn to respect you.”

For Malaika Butler-Douglas, settling for less was never an option.

Even though it took her nearly five years to get the job she wanted, the soft spoken yet head-strong woman triumphed over adversity and never gave up.

From a young age, Mrs. Butler-Douglas was fascinated with the idea of driving all over the Island and being able to call that her job.

The possibility became a reality for her in 1998, when she was hired as the first female truck driver at Government quarry in Bailey’s Bay.

Before getting her truck licence in 1993, she obtained her taxi licence after being inspired by a Philippine woman driving a taxi.

“I said to myself, ‘I must know the Island better than she does. Let me see what this test is about’.”

When she could not find a taxi to drive, another female driver inspired her, this time driving a truck: “I figured maybe I could deliver goods.”

Although she paid for driving lessons that cost upwards of $80 each and occasionally provided free labour, Mrs. Butler-Douglas set her sights on the Government. She obtained her truck licence and bee-lined to the quarry to fill out an application.

“The guys in the office were laughing, they really thought it was funny that I wanted to drive truck,” she recalls.

Her first application was unsuccessful and Mrs. Butler-Douglas took a job with the Department of Parks as a contract worker.

It so happened that one day the foreman needed to take a trip down to the quarry but could not leave the site and asked her to make the run.

“It was the first time since I had received my licence that I was able to use it.”

She arrived at Bailey’s Bay in a truck loaned to her department. When the men saw this, they asked for the truck back and gave her a different one.

“The one they brought up was about to fall apart. It seemed they couldn’t trust a woman to drive one of those nicer trucks.”

Despite this, her determination to work at the quarry never wavered. Although interested in a full-time position with the Government, when she found out she was pregnant she got a job driving the minibus in St. George’s, where minibus in St. George’s where she remained until after giving birth.

In 1995, Mrs. Butler-Douglas had an interview with the recycling plant on Devon Springs Road and she started work there as a sorter. While at the plant she learned how to use a forklift and the bobcat, and became a relief driver.

“For the four years I was at the recycling plant I tried to work at the quarry,” she says. “I must have filled out ten applications.”

Her luck took a turn for the better, it seemed, when women started having a stronger presence in politics.

When she was finally called for her first interview she was sure she would be successful, but she was wrong: “When I found out I didn’t get it I was heartbroken. I had put a lot of hope into getting this job.”

Mrs. Butler-Douglas’ second interview was also unsuccessful but at that point she had resigned herself to being content with learning from the experience. Her final application was filled out as her co-workers taunted her.

“They said, ‘You don’t get tired? You’re not going to get the job. They don’t want you’. I just laughed it off,” she says. “Even though it hurt, I said to them, ‘I hope you guys have a lot of work to do the day I get my interview’.”

She did get a third interview and much to her surprise, she was offered the job.

“I couldn’t believe it. It had to be a Christmas present.”

Already well known by the staff at the quarry from her frequent visits, she found her first few months went relatively smooth. The men warmed up to her presence and even became a family of sorts.

“They helped me. Those guys are a pretty good bunch down there,” she says of her co-workers.

“I’ve noticed if the guys in my section think someone is treating me unfairly they’ll say something real quick. They look out for me, like big brothers.”

Content with her current position, Mrs. Butler-Douglas is pleased with the turn her life has taken, and can now enjoy time in the afternoons with her sons, Dandre, 16 and Michael, 11.

A talented woman, Mrs. Butler-Douglas was also a soldier in the Bermuda Regiment who stayed three years longer than required and learned how to drive bus and ambulance.

She trained overseas with the Marines and earned a Marine Licence, which is on display at her home.

She works part time as a relief operator for the Swing Bridge and the Long Bird Bridge, and may be the only woman who has ever held this role.

The multi-faceted mother-of-four is an inspiration, helping to galvanise the movement of women into Government’s labour force.

Only recently was another female hired at the quarry, Sherena Franks, and Mrs. Butler-Douglas is relieved to have some female company.

As she reflects on her setbacks, she relishes that she held on to her dreams and suggests to any woman faced with a similar situation to persevere.

“Just keep trying,” she advises. “If that’s what you really want to do then keep up with it.

“Don’t let it hold you back. You still have to get a job in the mean time, but don’t forget about your goals and your dreams.”

Never let obstacles hinder your dreams!