Meet 20 year-old Amel Ajongo South Sudan’s Second female pilot

Today we celebrate remarkable news from South Sudan. Meet Amel Ajongo Mawut, South Sudan’s second female pilot at just 20 years old. We wish her all the best.

Amel Ajongo Mawut is South Sudan’s second female pilot. The 20 years old’s remarkable achievement is a giant step towards shattering the country’s aviation glass ceiling, and surely encourages young girls in the country to reach for their dreams. Earlier this year, we celebrated South Sudan’s first female pilot Aluel Bol Aluenge who became a Captain. Captain Aluel was flying for Delta Air when she became a Captain.

Ajongo attended the Kenya School of Flying for two and a half years at Nairobi’s Wilson Airport. In an interview with Hot in Juba, Ajongo while relieving her experience at the flying school said, “I think female pilots face essentially the same challenges that male pilots face. The overall difficulty is the stress of training. For instance, during my training we were eight ladies out of a class of 11 when we started out but unfortunately as we proceeded I came to be the only lady in the class. There is little sex discrimination in the aviation field but gladly there are increasing numbers of professional female pilots.”

Currently without any specific airline she hopes to fly for, Ajongo regrets not being able to fly her father who supported her “financially and morally.” Ajongo is the daughter of the former Chief of Defense Forces, General James Ajongo Mawut who died after a short illness in April this year.

In her message to women Ajongo said, “I believe that women in time will do great things. Don’t limit yourself. Don’t dream of success, just work for it and keep in mind, discipline is key.”

The news of Ajongo gaining her wings comes at a time when young women in Africa are setting the pace in technology and innovation. We wish her all the best in her future

-All Africa-