Jonique Gaynor, Staff Reporter

A woman using a bushwhacker and machete is a rare sight. So, it was no surprise that when Lilieth Walker-Francis cut her first yard, a large crowd gathered to watch her.

The 36-year-old, from Prospect, St Thomas, is not your average woman. While most women aspire to a corporate job, Walker - Francis weeds yards for a living and she's been doing it for the last eight years. The mother of two told THE STAR that she bought a bushwhacker and hired a friend to work for her, but took matters into her own hands when she became dissatisfied.

usually bake patty

"Mi usually bake patty an sell an den mi buy a likkle machine an gi a man fren fi work, but nuttin neva did a gwaan, so mi tek di machine and carry it home," she said. Determined to do it on her own, she approached a member of her church and asked if she could weed her yard. This member told her she already had someone who did it, but she found someone else who allowed her to try.

"Mi not even know how it happen. Mi an her go di same church and mi jus weed it and from dat mi buss outta di pack. Dat time mi a use mi chopper an mi machete and one a di day dem mi a weed and a crowd gather fi watch mi. Everybody always shock seh mi a one woman. A when mi a change mi clothes dem stop an seh , 'wait, is a woman', " she said.

children not excited

Her children, a boy and a girl, now, 14 and 15-years-old, were not exactly excited about their mother's job. They hated raking and this is what they were often asked to do.

"Mi kids dem neva like it, caw dem nuh like rake up. Dem used to haffi rake and chop fencing," she said. Her husband, who works in construction, helps her out on his free days. But like the children, he only does raking.

When THE STAR visited her 'on the job', she was very much in the thick of things. Her partner for the day, Lennox Brown, talked about her with obvious admiration. He told THE STAR, "Yeah man, u hear bout her? You come fi see Miss Melva? She big and strong ennuh."

learnt on the job

Walker-Francis did not know much about weeding before she started and said she learnt everything she knows on the job. "A jus God bless mi. Mi jus go out deh and cut until dis day."

Along with her team of two men, who have been working with her for the last two years, she travels all over the parish by taxi, to wherever her services are needed. She works as far away from home as Yallahs, which is about 40 minutes away.

On a good day, she can weed up to three or four yards and told THE STAR that when she just started working, she did up to seven a day.

Although the job is demanding and tiring, Walker-Francis said fatigue does not set in until her day is done and she is home. Battling the sun and other elements however, is another story. "All when di sun get red out ya, bredda, it hot man.

An when a yu alone and yu look and see di distance wha lef. Wha mi nuh like inna di work a when yu a weed and di dog [faeces] splash up pan yu or when it a rain, an di place full a mud. All yu glasses [goggles] yu haffi a wipe off every minute." Frequent stings by dislocated and angry wasps also come with the territory.

Despite these challenges however, Walker-Francis loves what she does.She said "Mi jus love it. All when mi done an see how di place look pretty. "

There are no set working hours in a job like this. "When night come and wi cyaan see, wi jus stop. Wi nuh have no special time. Wi jus go anytime wi waan go."

When she first entered the field, Walker-Francis had intended to stop working when she turned 40. Today however, she has no idea when she will stop.