María del Cristo Mesa is 43 years old and is one of the ten women who are part of the Droneras course, we also pilot, which began yesterday in Santa Cruz with the help of the Spanish Association of Women Entrepreneurs of the Canary Islands (Aseme-Canarias) and the City Council of Santa Cruz in the House of Youth. This initiative is aimed at training women in a section, drone piloting, which is still eminently male, which is why Aseme wanted to promote this specific training for women.
For Mesa, working in masculinized professions is nothing new and he has seen in this course the possibility of completing his resume. “I am an animation technician and trail guide, an environmental educator, a profession in which, when I started, it was a world of men, or at least in which people get the idea of a certain profile,” she explains to DIARIO DE NOTICES.
In her case, the idea of being able to use a drone in her work to take images from the air when she goes out with groups into nature is what has brought her to Droneras. Along with her, nine other women who will leave, not only with a license to pilot drones, but will also obtain training for their use in the audiovisual and photometric section.
From the Equality area, its manager, Purificación Dávila, welcomed the students. “The essential objective is to train women in underrepresented professions, promote the employability of women in the technology sector and raise awareness among them in relation to employment opportunities in this labor market,” said the councilor.
The first day of class, which took place yesterday at the Casa de la Juventud Lázaro, in El Toscal, was also attended by the Councilor for Youth and Education, Claudia Reverón, in addition to the president Aseme-Canarias), Lidia Monzón, and the technician from Take me, Francisca Galante.
The course is divided into a theoretical section, made up of an introduction, in which topics such as the Labor market and technologies: gender gap, The world of drones: applications and professional opportunities and Introduction to drones will be addressed.
In addition, basic aspects are considered, such as the applicable legislation and the specific sections of theoretical-face-to-face training for category A1 and A3 drones, in which the principles of flight and general knowledge of the UAS (acronym in English for non-aircraft system) will be addressed. manned); in addition to Practical Flight Training, and the specific teachings of Filming and Videos, which will allow the students to obtain the degree that qualifies them with a certification from the State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA) of the Ministry of Development.
The Councilor for Equality reiterated that, “with this training, we help them obtain the official certificate for piloting drones in the Open Category, we guide them and teach them the number of possibilities for professional development that this field has” and emphasized that, in addition, “Once the pilot certification in the open category has been obtained, we will introduce them to the aerial filming sector and the photometry sector with practices with drones.”
This initiative, in which the Santa Cruz City Council and the San Andrés Sports Club collaborate, with the transfer of their facilities for flight practices, is financed by the Insular Council’s Department of Equality and Prevention of Gender Violence, and promoted by the Spanish Association of Women Entrepreneurs of the Canary Islands (Aseme).
The distribution of the course is divided into four weeks, from Monday to Friday, with classes lasting four hours per day (80 hours), which makes a total of 20 days. After each change of training topic, the students will be able to carry out practices that help them understand and consolidate the knowledge acquired.
María del Cristo is also part of a program that promotes the empowerment of women promoted by the Domitila Hernández Association called + Samara Igualitaria. “This project consists of empowering women through cultural and sports activities. We carry out personal growth workshops and routes in the natural environment. That is why it is good for me to have this type of training, because it supports me for the work that we are developing in the project”, he explained.
“I have also encouraged the women of this other project to join the course if the edition is repeated. I think this is a way to give us an opportunity to dedicate ourselves to fields that we had not even considered,” he said.
Entrepreneurship
The president of Aseme indicated that “this is the first idea of many others consisting of introducing sectors that are more masculinized. It is the first of 2022 and we want to continue collaborating with the Government of the Canary Islands, the Cabildo and the Santa Cruz City Council”. “We have been with the association for two years and we want to continue growing and promoting the leadership of women, of entrepreneurs,” she added.
Aseme belongs to the Canarian Federation of Entrepreneurs, “we are the only women’s association in the federation”, and pointed out that “our vocation is to accompany and improve the positive image of women and lead professionalization in those sectors in which there has not been there has been that introduction of women”.
