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Carpenter Defies Gender Norms, Builds Future After Academic Setback

“I stepped back so my siblings could stay in school,” said 23-year-old Ivy Phaso, her voice carrying the weight of a decision that reshaped her life. After failing the Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) in 2019, and with no money for a retake, her academic road ended abruptly. Her parents, subsistence farmers in Mwangala Village, simply could not afford another chance.

That is when she heard about There Is Hope Malawi (TIH) and its vocational training programs.

“The fees were reasonable, and the courses looked promising,” she recalled. “My parents said yes.”

Enrolling in a carpentry and joinery course was not an obvious choice. It was not what her mother, a tailor, had envisioned. It was not what her friends encouraged either; many nudged her toward marriage instead. But Ivy was moved by a different example: a woman she had seen in Lilongwe, earning a living with a hammer and saw.

“I just knew,” she said. “Carpentry was it. That’s all I wanted.”

Ivy’s journey into a male-dominated field was challenging. In 2021, she was the sole female in her class against 32 males.

“At first I was intimidated and thought I had made a mistake,” she recalled.

However, with the instrumental support of her instructor, Lovemore Odillo, and female instructors, she adapted and excelled

“I was scared,” she said. “But thankfully, our trainer Lovemore Odillo stepped in. He sent a female staff member to talk to me. That helped me breathe again.”

Despite the early setbacks, Ivy graduated in 2022 and landed an apprenticeship at a carpentry workshop in Dzaleka, run by a TIH graduate. But acceptance was still hard to come by.

“People doubted me, customers, passersby, even some colleagues,” she said.

Still, she kept showing up, learning new techniques, from coffin crafting to furniture making. Her quiet persistence drew interest. Another young woman, curious about her work, joined the workshop.

“Now there are two of us,” Ivy said with a smile. “I can do this.”

TIH did not just train her in carpentry. Through the Skills Up! Project, funded by Welthungerhilfe (WHH), Ivy enrolled in a business incubation adhoc sessions at TIH.

“I knew how to make things,” she said. “But the business side? That’s what I was missing, how to run a workshop, manage finances, set prices.”

Armed with this knowledge, she held on through a difficult year of job hunting.

“Most workshops turned me away. Some even asked me to pay just to observe,” she said, shaking her head.

Now she lives in a rented home in Lilambwe Village, an achievement in itself. Her siblings are preparing for university, and she is dreaming bigger: a workshop of her own, focusing on higher-margin products like coffins and custom furniture.

“Joinery is good, but carpentry brings in more,” she explained, eyes already on her next tool purchase. Her goal? Save enough to start small, then train other women like her.

 “I want to give back. To teach other girls they can do this too.”

So would she recommend vocational skills to other young women?

Her answer is immediate: “Absolutely, with all my heart. A trade is its own kind of capital. It gives you power. It gives you a future.”

From academic setback to skilled craftswoman, Ivy Phaso, supported by TIH, is building a sustainable future while dismantling gender barriers.