\n\t\t\t\tJanice Celis is following in the footsteps of women who traded convention for fresh air as a meter reader. (CUC)\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n
\nIn the aftermath of Typhoon Soudelor, linemen became the face of Saipan\u2019s recovery and restoration efforts. From the installation of the first power poles along Chalan Pale Arnold in August to the installation of transformers and drop lines in December, the community took notice of the men in hard hats and reflective vests who rebuilt the power grid from scratch.<\/p>\nPrior to Nov. 15, 2015, the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. employed only linemen to climb power poles, maneuver bucket trucks, and sag power lines. That all changed on Nov. 16, when Nicialynn Duenas Cabrera began her first day on the job as the CNMI\u2019s first lineperson.<\/p>\n
The 19-year-old Cabrera didn\u2019t know she would be making history when she left her family home in Kagman to report for her first day of work at CUC Power Division headquarters in Oleai. At the time, Cabrera was simply following her interest in utility work that was sparked by watching CUC crews serve her community.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was younger I saw one linemen climbing a pole at my house to install my streetlight and I was like, \u2018Wow, I want to do that!\u2019 And then I noticed there weren\u2019t any girls so I went for it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Cabrera was also inspired to apply by her parents, both of whom work for CUC. Her father, Edgar, is a mechanical foreman who spent the past 20 years with Power Generation, while her mother, Prisca, is a financial accounts technician with four years of service with CUC.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s my baby and I\u2019m happy for her. Working at CUC is like a family tradition. I like seeing her out there and the guys treat her how to be safe,\u201d her father said.<\/p>\n
Nicialynn\u2019s mother, Prisca, echoes husband Edgar\u2019s sentiments and says their daughter isn\u2019t letting her male coworkers take it easy on her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m happy for her. She told me how the guys are with her. She told me she feels that she\u2019s spoiled but then she doesn\u2019t let that actually happen; she\u2019ll just go out and do it with her bare hands,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
While others have applied in the past, Cabrera is the first woman hired by CUC as a trades assistant, lineperson, and the proud product of Kagman High School says she appreciates the opportunity she has as well as her place in local history.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll eyes are on me now. If I mess up, everyone\u2019s going to know because I\u2019m setting the pace for everyone else,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Getting hired as a lineperson is just the first step of the journey for Cabrera, as it can take as long as two and a half years to earn her certification through the Pacific Linemen Training Program. Despite the lengthy and strenuous process, Cabrera says she is up for the challenge.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m willing to learn and wait. I heard it\u2019s hard but I can do it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
As for now, a typical day on the line for Cabrera includes street light maintenance, clearing vegetation, performing visual inspections of transformers, power pole hardware, lateral lines and drop lines with the Papa 5 team under the supervision of lead man Ibut Mongami.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s fun. He\u2019s a really great teacher, he\u2019s very patient, and if I ask him a question he\u2019s always willing to really go into details with it. That\u2019s why I really appreciate what he does,\u201d Cabrera said<\/p>\n
A 16-year veteran with CUC, Mongami and his team spent countless hours rebuilding Saipan\u2019s power grid, primarily along Feeder 4. He is impressed with Cabrera\u2019s enthusiasm for the job as he prepares her for the challenges ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s good to teach women to be on the line. She\u2019s doing well and she\u2019s interested in learning. It\u2019s going to take awhile because she has to go through the training; that\u2019s when the instructors teach them how to connect the lines, the hardware, to assemble stuff safely. Safety is the main thing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
While Cabrera is the first woman lineperson in the CNMI, she welcomes other women to share in her CUC adventure.
\n\u201cI really encourage them to come out and try it out. It\u2019s really fun; it\u2019s hard but it\u2019s so worth it. You see things you\u2019ve never seen before, go to places you\u2019ve never seen or heard of before and it\u2019s a really great experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Keeping pace<\/p>\n
While Cabrera sets the pace for females with the line crew, Koblerville native Janice Celis is following in the footsteps of women who traded convention for fresh air as a fiscal assistant, meter reader.<\/p>\n
Celis began her first day with CUC in October after looking for a career that would allow her to work with people while outdoors. She says working as a meter reader with CUC was the perfect fit.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a good experience to get to know the customers. We\u2019re the first point of contact to greet the customers and they share their concerns. It\u2019s better than doing an office job,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Though she is not the first female meter reader in the CNMI, Celis appreciates her unique status. While unfazed by having all male coworkers, Celis says she would gladly welcome more women in the ranks.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s great. The guys don\u2019t treat me any different, they treat me just like any other employees. I feel proud because I\u2019m the only female in the department. I love my job and I know other women will love it, too, \u201cshe said.<\/p>\n
Acting CUC executive director Gary Camacho said that Cabrera and Celis are representative of CUC\u2019s direction.<\/p>\n
\u201cCUC is today\u2019s utility and we\u2019re moving forward. We\u2019re an equal opportunity employer and they\u2019re taking advantage of an opportunity that\u2019s been available for many years. We\u2019re all very proud of them and we encourage the men and women of our community to come in and apply for all positions if they\u2019re interested in joining our team,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
For more information, visit the CUC website, www.cucgov.org, or contact the CUC Customer Call Center at 664-4CUC (664-4282). (CUC)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the aftermath of Typhoon Soudelor, linemen became the face of Saipan\u2019s recovery and restoration…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":217203,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[900],"tags":[26,49,8797,244],"class_list":["post-217199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-cnmi","tag-cuc","tag-power-generation","tag-utility"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217199\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/217203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}