Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Girls with Hi-Vis visits EIT, sparks interest in power careers

By Shea Jefferson
Hawkes Bay Today·
25 Jun, 2021 03:49 AM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Havelock North High School's Emersyn Franklin climbs a power pole during Unison's Girls with Hi-Vis event at EIT. Photo / Paul Taylor

Havelock North High School's Emersyn Franklin climbs a power pole during Unison's Girls with Hi-Vis event at EIT. Photo / Paul Taylor

"Girls with Hi-Vis" is sparking the interest of Hawke's Bay wāhine in becoming linewomen.

The Connexis Girls with Hi-Vis campaign arrived at the EIT campus on Thursday this week for a female-driven insight into the electrical trade hosted by Unison.

Fluorescent-frocked female students from across the region attended the event, which was aimed at getting more women into trades through hands-on experience.

Sylvia Ngaheu, a trainee lineworker for Unison, helped lead the activities and was herself recruited from a previous "Girls in Power" initiative.

While the day boasted the spectacle of wāhine scaling poles to rescue dummies in distress, it also allowed students to have a go at some of the everyday skills involved in linework.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Ngaheu coached the young women through a variety of skills, including crane and digger operation.

Ngaheu said she was there not only to show women what it's like to be a lineworker but that they can step into such male-dominated roles and industries.

"I'm here to empower us women and show that we can do just as much as men. If not more you know, that's our goal."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Ngaheu appreciates the multi-faceted nature of the work, which entails "keeping the power on, climbing power poles, operating heavy machinery, creating new lines, maintaining lines and driving trucks".

Attendees appreciated the chance to have a go at several of the tasks involved in the job.

Peata Kaio, a Year 13 student of Sacred Heart College, said she was grateful for the opportunity to get hands-on with the equipment because of an anxiety that "I could be good at the theory but not good at the actual job".

Kaio was first-up to operate the crane arm, with the challenge being to use the arm to pick up a small plastic bucket. Kaio aced the task, with Unison trade coach James Aranui commenting on her steady hands and quick knack for the controls.

Aranui hopes that Hawke's Bay will be the first to qualify an all-female, live-line crew, which may soon be a reality, with campaigns like these enabling wāhine to feel confident in power.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

Motorist dies after four crashes in 40 minutes in Hawke's Bay

Hawkes Bay Today

'We have you surrounded': Police stood down after Hawke's Bay stand-off, search continues

Premium
Hawkes Bay Today

Black Ferns: Tui pair on the big bird for matches in South Africa


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Motorist dies after four crashes in 40 minutes in Hawke's Bay
Hawkes Bay Today

Motorist dies after four crashes in 40 minutes in Hawke's Bay

Some roads remained blocked.

17 Jul 06:02 AM
'We have you surrounded': Police stood down after Hawke's Bay stand-off, search continues
Hawkes Bay Today

'We have you surrounded': Police stood down after Hawke's Bay stand-off, search continues

17 Jul 04:06 AM
Premium
Premium
Black Ferns: Tui pair on the big bird for matches in South Africa
Hawkes Bay Today

Black Ferns: Tui pair on the big bird for matches in South Africa

17 Jul 04:00 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP