For Jennie Kuyenda of Blantyre, her ambition is neither an opinion poll nor a gender test.
She does not care what you think about a 21-year-old girl who trades fashion wear for a work suit, getting dirty in a greasy garage.
Growing up inNgumbe along the M1 in Blantyre bombarded her with motor vehicles of different makes, shapes and sizes.
Seeing her father fixing an array of oily engines left Kuyenda even more obsessed with the work mechanics do.
“I was always fascinated by how cars worked,” she says. “Passing tools and parts to dad made me fall in love with his world.”
Daddy’s girl rising
Kuyenda perfected her skills as an automobile mechanics apprentice at Soche Technical College in Blantyre.
She is fired up to shatter the mould in a workspace where fixing stuttering and dead-silent vehicles is dominated by men.
Kuyenda’s burning desire to walk in her father’s footsteps flickers with fiery firepower when a vehicle engine fails.
She peels her trendy clothing and footwear in favour of oil-resistant boots and overalls.
Pro-Tech. | Teveta
The young woman tucks her probing fingernails into the engine with clinical attention to detail.
For her, passion and skill matter more than public perception.
The roadside garage taught her at a young age that repairing automobiles knows no gender if one dares to dream big.
“I wanted to prove myself,” she recounts. “I just focused on doing my work until boys learned to respect me as their equal.”
Kuyenda did her internship at Pro-tech Diagnostics, a local garage in the city.
Sustained mentorship, practical skills and shared knowledge boosted her confidence.
The male-dominated workplace motivated her to girl up, showing her peers that where there is a will, there is a way.
“The biggest barrier is perception, whether you are male or female.”
She dreams of owning a garage like her father’s to end dependency and create jobs for the youth.
The Ministry of Labour, Skills and Innovation estimates that youth unemployment is below a quarter of Malawians, aged 18 to 35.
However, Afrobarometer last December reported that more than half, 53 percent, cannot find jobs.
The opinion survey shows nine in 10 have considered fleeing the country.
For Kuyenda, skills development is key to unlocking jobs for young men and women.
“Skills have no gender. Don’t let anyone tell you that you are not up to the task,” she says, emerging from a bonnet where passers-by could only see her boots.
During a visit to Soche Technical College last December, Minister of Labour, Skills and Innovation Joel Chigona underscored the importance of improved Tevet standards and gender equality in the race to meet national skills development needs.
“Not everyone can get a white-collar job,” he said. “With practical skills training, graduates are better positioned to create employment for themselves and contribute meaningfully to national development.”
Bridging gender gap
When determination meets matching skills, the spark kindles a flame that lights the way out of dependence and gender stereotypes.
Although the Gender Equality Act requires either sex to take 40 to 60 percent of State-sponsored training opportunities, men outnumbered women as trainees and tutors in technical colleges for decades.
The imbalance shuts out deserving women from the skilled labour that President Peter Mutharika terms “one of Malawi’s most valuable resources”.
Amid the growing political support for technical, entrepreneurial and vocational education and training (Tevet), official figures show female trainees represent about 41 percent of the total enrolment—up from 35 percent last year and just 40 percent in 2024.
A graph provided by the Tevet Authority shows the agenda for gender equality hit an all-time high in 2023 when women trainees represented 51 percent, climbing from 36 percent the previous year.
The likes of Kuyenda are breaking the barriers in men-dominated trades
