Mombasa’s no-nonsense female rickshaw driver

In Mombasa’s Old Town Farida Shenga starts her day tidying up her rickshaw. Shenga became a rickshaw driver in 2005 after her husband died, leaving her as the family’s sole breadwinner. After buying a new rickshaw with a friend, she then had to learn how to use it. On the road, she is an iron lady: careful, but tough. Men dominate Kenya’s rickshaw business, and Mombasa’s conservative society often stops young women from doing traditionally “male” jobs. Shenga has three children and has become a role model for young girls in the community. While women rickshaw drivers are still rare, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced many women into male-dominated jobs.