Wāhine Plumber Hopes More Women Enter Trades This World Plumbers’ Day

In Aotearoa, only 15 out of 11,389 certified plumbers are women, but Hera Eruera, known online as “She’s a Māori Plumber,” is working to change that.

Its World Plumbers’ Day today and Eruera is urging more wāhine to explore careers in plumbing.

Eruera transitioned from being a stay-at-home māmā to becoming a fully qualified plumber.

She believes her career in the trades has transformed her life, offering her new opportunities and allowing her to give back to her whānau in her papakāinga.

She says she’s teaching her tamariki and whānau skills she was never taught, and it feels great to have them all involved.

With her new skill set, she says she has helped build their own houses and maintain their marae and urupā.

Eruera’s interest in plumbing was sparked unexpectedly by her tutor at the Manukau Institute of Technology, and she hopes that her story encourages more women to pick up tools and break into this male-dominated industry.

Story originally by RNZ

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