Motoring workshops for women
Most women in the UAE love their cars as much as men, but their awareness often lags when it comes to maintaining their vehicles.
Three Emirati women have now taken it upon themselves to offer workshops on basic vehicle maintenance to help female drivers avoid costly repairs. Their campaign, which started last year, called Mootary – meaning "my car" in English – with a workshop to teach 25 women about car engines and maintenance. Topics that were covered were oil changes, checking water levels, tyre treads and dealing with vehicle emergencies.
"The idea behind Mootary is to make women able to do what they have been told they cannot do," said Rihab Awadh, 25, one of the campaign’s founders. "If they have a driving license and drive their cars everyday they need to have the basic knowledge of cars." Ms Awadh said she had to call her father or brother for help when her car broke down, waiting for hours at times. "If women go to the garage by themselves, they could be cheated because of their lack of knowledge," she said.
The three women have now partnered with Al Nabooda Automobiles to offer the workshops and they are sponsored by Emirates NBD bank.
"The workshops are in two parts – theoretical and practical. In the first part, we give the participants historical information about vehicles and the main components of cars. In the second part, we have a trainer from Audi who shows them how to change tyres, check the level of oil, water and battery," said Ms Al Ketbi, a human resources officer.
Ms Al Ketbi is passionate and knowledgable about cars. After getting her driver’s license when she was a university student, she changed her vehicle’s oil and water herself. "I also used to take it to the garage by myself and monitored what the repairers did." The three now plan to open a garage that is fully run by women for women. Ms Awadh said they wanted to encourage universities to offer courses on cars for female students and to encourage women to work in the automotive industry as not many do.
The second Mootary workshop will be held on January 21 from 10am to 3pm at Al Nabooda Automobiles on First Al Khail Road in Dubai.
